Two Weeks
by Landon Richardson
Summary: Two weeks was all it took for everything to go wrong and now it was up to Steve McGarrett to fix things... the only problem was he wasn't sure he could. (Steve x Female Danni -OC))
1. Chapter 1

Two Weeks

By

Landon Richardson and TealRose

Disclaimer

 **The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly and Adam 'Toast' Charles and anyone else who might sound familiar to the reader do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes**

 **The character of Danni Williams is probably mine by now. Even though she was originally based on male Danny Williams I think it's probably safe to say that's she turned into her own individual character with her own set of beliefs and personality, especially since I've created a back ground for her which is different to male Danny's background in the show. This also affects Grace who is different from the show as well in ways.**

 **The characters of Jack O'Connor and Riley King most definitely belong to me though**

 **I should also add that if a character is mentioned who you are not instantly aware of then that character belong to me as well**

Author Note

 **So here's a story which has been co-written with the wonderful Tealrose, if you haven't done so then you should read her NCIS stories because they are great and were one of things which got me back into the NCIS fiction world!**

 **I know I had said that I wouldn't put up any stories until some of my others were finished but this story is technically finished so it doesn't require any additional work from me other than reading through it and making sure that I didn't make any stupid mistakes. If I've missed anything then that is completely my fault and no one else's.**

 **This story belongs in 'the what if 'story saga. It could be a part of the main saga (The beginning, family ect ect) but isn't. It's more a look at how some things could have happened but didn't so this is a way which Riley King could have joined 50 but it's not the official way he did. We just like experimenting and keeping the muse happy!**

 **I'm hoping to upload a new chapter every two-three days or so, so make sure you keep an eye out for it.**

 **You'll also see that there are several references to past events, one of which actually is in the main saga. I wonder if any of you catch it!**

 **Anyway enough from me, please enjoy and have a wonderful new year.**

 **Oh and while I remember the last chapter of 'One night is all it took' should be uploaded tomorrow so please look out for it, if that is a story of mine you are reading!**

Overall summary

 **Two weeks was all it took for everything to go wrong and now it was up to Steve McGarrett to fix things... the only problem was he wasn't sure he could. (Part of the 'What if' Danni saga)**

Chapter Summary

 **Toast grumbled to himself as he made his way up the stairs and entered the building where the 50 team were based in, flashing his security badge at one of the many security guards before he took a desperate sip of his coffee, taking strength from it as he made his way across the foyer towards the metal detectors which every visitor and member of staff needed to pass through before being admitted**

Overall romance

 **Steve McGarrett/Danni Williams**

 **Eventual mentions of other romances as we go.**

Chapter Romance

 **Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams**

* * *

Chapter One

Day One - Monday

* * *

Toast grumbled to himself as he made his way up the stairs and entered the building where the 50 team were based in, flashing his security badge at one of the many security guards before he took a desperate sip of his coffee, taking strength from it as he made his way across the foyer towards the metal detectors which every visitor and member of staff needed to pass through before being admitted.

The security in the building never used to be so heavy but that had swiftly changed six months ago when a gang had infiltrated the building, making their way up to where their headquarters was based and shot both Kono Kalakaua and Danni Williams where they had been chatting over a coffee.

If going through the countless check points and security measures meant that he never had to witness something like that happening again than Toast was all for it. What he wasn't all for was receiving a telephone call from his boss at six AM on a Monday morning telling him to get into work as soon as possible.

Growling under his breathe he passed his coffee to one of the guard who shot him an amused look before he went through the detector, instantly spreading his arms and legs so they could run the hand held metal detector over his body, why exactly they needed to do that as well as the walk through one was beyond him but he had learnt early on in his days not to bother trying to figure things like that out. He took the coffee back with a nod before he picked up his rucksack and made his way towards the stairs which would lead him to the second floor. Stairs which suddenly seemed impossibly high considering how tired he still felt, if he had known his boss was going to call him in this early then he would have gone to bed a lot earlier than 2AM.

Sighing he made his way up them, swiping his card again and waiting until the small light turned green before he pulled the door open and stepped into the long corridor, making sure the door clicked behind him. He pushed his earphone into his ears and made his way towards the end of the corridor, stopping outside the double doors and placed his thumb against the fingerprint reader, bobbing his head in time to his music before it flashed green at him, telling him he could now enter.

He pulled the door open and stepped through into the main bulpen his eyes immediately landing on his boss Steve McGarrett. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of the man, at times he seems pretty easy going but other times he seemed so focused on what he was doing that he was almost unapproachable. It was always difficult to know exactly what mood he would be in. His gaze moved to the tall man standing next to Steve who looked vaguely familiar to Toast though he couldn't quite put his finger on where he knew him from. What he did know what that the man shouldn't have been in their office, only members of 50 and the heads of the ME and CSU department had the necessary security needed to get in.

"Well I'm here boss and there better be a good reason why you've dragged me out of bed so early. Isn't this why Blondie hired Jenna? Because Jenna was a morning person and could function before 10 AM?" He grumbled, giving Steve a half-hearted glare. He knew that there was probably a good reason for the call, an emergency or something which couldn't wait but it still annoyed him.

"Jenna isn't the person I need right now, you are Toast" Steve said, waving off Toast's complaint as though he had simply bounded into the room, happy as larry instead of grumpy and miserable. "Toast, this is Riley King, you remember him?" Steve asked him, his blue looking eyes intent as they looked at Toast. Toast blinked at the name, his dark eyebrow rising in shock. He definitely knew who Riley King was, up until a week ago he had been a wanted fugitive for the murder of a fellow navy SEAL, Steve had been determined to clear his friend's name and made them work round the clock until Danni had placed her foot down and scolded Steve into submission. They had managed to clear Riley's name though.

"Err yeah" He said now, tilting his head as he looked towards the dark haired man again, hiding his shiver with difficulty as he met the cold black eyes watching him intently. He had heard rumours that Riley, who had only been on the island for five days, already has a reputation for doing whatever it took to get the job done. "Of course I do" He went on to say, breaking the silence which was stretching out; his hand gripping the strap of his bag. "Lieutenant Commander Riley Jacob Davian King, 33 years old and born on the 30th July 1977. Eldest child and only son of Davian and Yvette King with five younger sisters. You came second in your year at Annapolis, did a term with the SEALs and then disappeared from their records only to turn up in LA two months ago due to the murder of your father by a gang known as the Amigos." He stated.

"Someone has done their homework." Riley commented speaking for the first time. His voice was deep and husky, tinged with a California accent which surprised Toast, somehow he thought he would sound more like he was from New York than the West Coast.

"It's my job" Toast replied with a shrug, taking a sip of his coffee, his dark hazel eyes flickering to Steve as he spoke, his comment clearly directed towards Riley.

"Toast is the best Hacker on the island, there's nothing which he can't find if he puts his mind towards it. The one thing you learn pretty quickly though is that he needs a hell of a lot of coffee first thing in the morning to function."

"Most normal people require coffee at this time in the morning boss." Toast countered, frowning as he moved over to the computer table which was his pride and joy and power it up. He drained the rest of his coffee, feeling a bit more awake as he looked around him, finally noticing that all the offices apart from Steve's were dark, indicating that their owners hadn't arrived yet. "Am I the first one in?" He asked sounding confused. "Where is everyone else? Didn't you call them in as well?"

"No because I don't need them to come in early" Steve answered with a shrug. "I just need you."

"Right" Toast said, drawing the word out as he moved over to the office which he had been allocated and which he rarely used to drop his bag before he headed out again. "What do you need me to do for you then? Research on a new case because normally it's Blondie who gives me that information."

"I need you to produce the paperwork which is needed to get Riley instated as a member of 50. You'll have to take his fingerprints as well so that he can get into the headquarters. The Governor is ready and waiting to sign the papers off so that he can start today and begin to learn the ropes and the way we work."

"Instated?" Toast repeated in surprise, looking back towards Riley. "Does anyone else know about this because no one has mentioned anything?"

"No one yet, just the three of us" Steve answered. Toast stared at him hard for a moment before he shook his head, logging into the main database and working quickly, his mind whirling torn between relief that it was something as simple as producing the paperwork and that none of their team were injured and being pissed off that Steve had clearly arranged all of this without giving any of them a chance to have a say in whether they wanted a new member of not. Danni would have called it Steve's SEAL mentality flaring up but personally Toast would have referred to it as Steve being an anal control freak though he would never say the words out loud.

"So you haven't discussed this with Danni then" He asked, breaking across the low conversation the other two were having.

"No Toast" Steve replied, his eyes narrowing as though he was annoyed by the question. "There hasn't been any time to discuss it with her yet. When everyone is in then I'll tell everyone at once."

"Wow" Toast said, unimpressed by the other man. "She is going to tear you a new one and it's going to be fun to watch." He muttered to himself.

"What was that Toast?" Steve question, a tone to his voice which told Toast that he was a second away from stepping over the line. He took a deep breath and shrugged, pushing down his desire to protect Danni. He knew she would be hurt by this and it made his blood boil. Steve was meant to be her partner, she was joint leader of 50 and definitely the head of the admin side of things including the HR, normally if they needed anyone hired then it was Danni who took care of it. There just seemed to be something almost underhanded about this that Toast didn't like.

"Nothing Boss, I'm just talking to myself trying to remember whether the Red B form is needed or whether it's actually the Green D form when it comes to someone joining us from a branch of the military." He lied with a shrug.

Steve stared at him for a moment before he spoke.

"Danni will be able to confirm that with you. I'm leaving her in the office for the next two weeks while I train Riley up, he'll be coming into the field with me." He told Toast. Toast blinked but before he could say anything a second voice spoke from the doorway.

"Do me a favour McGarrett and tell her that you're benching her when I'm out of the building because I don't want to be caught up in the resulting explosion."

They turned as one to see Jack O'Connor moving into the office dressed casually in a pair of dark blue jeans and a pale blue t-shirt which matched the colour of his eyes.

"Morning Jack" Toast called out, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of the other man.

"Morning Toast my man, any chance we got the coffee machine up and running because I'm pretty sure I saw Chin pull up on his bike as I was going through security and you know how he gets without a fresh coffee in the morning."

"I thought that was you." Toast replied with a grin at the blond who responded by flicking him the finger before he looked at Steve and Riley, a frown coming to his face.

"Why would you need to be out of the building when I tell Danni that she'll be working in the office for the next two weeks rather than the field?" Steve questioned, looking confused. "Or are you talking about the fact that Riley is now a member of the team because as far as I can see he's a good addition to us especially with his military background."

"Got absolutely nothing to do with Riley being on the team." Jack responded. "And all to do with the fact that you don't seem to know your partner half as well as you claim to if you think that this whole situation won't bother her. All I can say Steve is it is going to suck to be you today." He remarked, turning back to Toast. "I'll get you one man, you're looking stressed already." He remarked, walking past them and clapping his hand on Toast's shoulder, his gaze locking on Riley's as he nodded to him. "Welcome to 50 King" He stated, his mouth curving into a half smile before he disappeared into his office for a moment before remerging and heading towards the back of the room where the kitchen was situated.

Toast remained quiet as he worked on getting the forms together, suddenly wishing that this day was already over.

* * *

Author Note

 **Thanks for taking the time to read, an especially big thank you if you've taken the time to review, follow or favourite the story. I really appreciate it!**


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks

By

Landon Richardson and TealRose

Disclaimer

 **The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly and Adam 'Toast' Charles and anyone else who might sound familiar to the reader do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes**

 **The character of Danni Williams is probably mine by now. Even though she was originally based on male Danny Williams I think it's probably safe to say that's she turned into her own individual character with her own set of beliefs and personality, especially since I've created a back ground for her which is different to male Danny's background in the show. This also affects Grace who is different from the show as well in ways.**

 **The characters of Jack O'Connor and Riley King most definitely belong to me though**

 **I should also add that if a character is mentioned who you are not instantly aware of then that character belong to me as well**

Author Note

 **So here's a story which has been co-written with the wonderful Tealrose, if you haven't done so then you should read her NCIS stories because they are great and were one of things which got me back into the NCIS fiction world!**

 **I know I had said that I wouldn't put up any stories until some of my others were finished but this story is technically finished so it doesn't require any additional work from me other than reading through it and making sure that I didn't make any stupid mistakes. If I've missed anything then that is completely my fault and no one else's.**

 **This story belongs in 'the what if 'story saga. It could be a part of the main saga (The beginning, family ect ect) but isn't. It's more a look at how some things could have happened but didn't so this is a way which Riley King could have joined 50 but it's not the official way he did. We just like experimenting and keeping the muse happy!**

 **Anyway enough from me, please enjoy and have a wonderful new year.**

Overall summary

 **Two weeks was all it took for everything to go wrong and now it was up to Steve McGarrett to fix things... the only problem was he wasn't sure he could. (Part of the 'What if' Danni saga)**

Chapter Summary

 **Danni Williams breathed out a sigh of relief as she came to a stop outside the main entrance to the 50 headquarters, adjusting her belongings in her arms so she could free her thumb up for the thumb scanner.**

Overall romance

 **Steve McGarrett/Danni Williams**

 **Eventual mentions of other romances as we go.**

Chapter Romance

 **Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams**

* * *

Chapter Two

Day one - Danni arrives

* * *

Danni Williams breathed out a sigh of relief as she came to a stop outside the main entrance to the 50 headquarters, adjusting her belongings in her arms so she could free her thumb up for the thumb scanner. For a moment she waited, listening to the hum it made before it beeped, the background turning green allowing her access to the room.

She entered, her eyes flickering around her, placing her teammates before she crossed the room, her heels tapping against the marble floor as she entered her office, pushing the door closed behind her and sighed unhappily when she saw the three stacks of files on her desk which Jenna had obviously placed on her desk that morning. It seemed never ending, every time she finished one file another five would appear,; files from CSU, files from the medical examiner's office, files from the DA's office asking questions about their previous cases. That was difficult enough without files from her teammates creeping into the pile requiring work from her as well, work which she was pretty sure was their responsibility. She had no doubt as well that Jenna would keep them coming throughout the day as well.

The more established their team became, the more the work load increased and it was getting to the point that Danni could easily spend her whole week at her desk and still not be on top of things. She needed to speak to Steve and press him once again about hiring someone to help her so she could finally get back into the field, at Steve's side where she belonged.

Shaking her head she moved round the side of her desk, putting her bag beneath the desk and powered up her computer, glancing at the clock on the wall, she was later than she wanted to be but she still should get most of what she needed to get done finished or at least started. Sighing, she typed in her login and password, hitting enter before she grabbed her empty coffee mug and headed out of her office, her eyes on the kitchen. She switched direction when she saw Toast standing by the main printer, grabbing something from it and turning with a flourish as he spoke.

"Done O'Capitan" He stated, stopping when he saw her, his shoulders hunching over as his dark eyes flickered towards her before he looked away, nervously dragging his free hand through his hair. "Danni… you're here… hi, you look great… I…"

Danni frowned, tilting her head to the side wondering why the younger man was acting so jumpy.

"Toast are you…" She stopped when a movement to the side of them caught her attention and she glanced towards it, her eyes focusing on Steve as he came out of his own office with Riley behind him.

"Good you're finally here Danni" Steve said, moving towards them, a half smile coming to his face as he stopped by her.

"Yeah I'm here, I told you I would be in my text. I was running slightly late because I had to see Grace's teacher this morning" Danni responded, meeting his eyes for a moment before she turned her attention back to Riley wondering why the other man was there. Was he there to visit Steve? Were they going on an early lunch together or was there something else going on? Something which might explain Toast's bizarre behaviour. She looked towards the younger man as he moved awkwardly from one foot to the other, a look on his face as though he would rather be anywhere else right about now. "Toast is everything okay?" She queried

Toast winced, looking miserable as he turned towards Steve, holding the paperwork out to him.

"Here's the paperwork you requested. The Governor's placed her signature on it so it's official now, Riley is a member of 50" He told Steve, his tone flat as he looked towards Danni, the look of misery coming back.

Danni froze to the spot, barely breathing as she watched Steve grin widely as he reached out and took the paperwork from Toast, glancing down at it as he stuck his hand in his pocket, pulling out a 50 shield and ID badge which he handed over to Riley who took it, smiling down at them. Danni could barely believe her eyes.

When the hell had this happened?

Had she missed something?

Why on earth was Riley a member of 50 now?

She blinked, glancing around aware that the others minus Steve and Riley were looking at her, an unsure look on their faces as though they were waiting for her reaction before deciding how to act. She wanted to turn and simply walk away from the scene in front of her, locking herself in her office but she couldn't do that. She was the second in command of 50 so she had to show a united front with Steve in front of the others. She couldn't risk 50. She straightened slightly, forcing a smile onto her face, hoping that it looked natural.

"Welcome to 50 Riley, I hope you're happy here. We'll have to sit down later on today so I can take your details to add to the system, I know Toast has done the usual paperwork but there's still more to go through." She stated, turning her eyes towards Steve, the look in them turning chilly. "May I talk to you for a moment Steven" She requested. Steve nodded slowly at her, a slight frown coming to his face before his eyes moved around the staff around him before he stopped at Chin.

"Chin, could you take Riley to his office and show him around the headquarters" Steve asked the older man who gave him a single nod, remaining quiet. Steve blinked, turning towards Danni surprised to see that the younger woman had already turned and headed towards her office. He frowned again, moving past the others and into Danni's office wondering what Danni wanted to talk about? Did something happen with the meeting with Grace's teacher?

His eyes dropped to the files on Danni's desk and winced in sympathy for her. If there was one thing he hated more than anything then it was paperwork.

"Would you mind closing the door please" She asked politely from where she stood behind her desk, her voice steady and quiet as though she was speaking to a stranger and not someone who had been her partner for almost six months, someone who she had slept with for the first time four days before hand. Raising an eyebrow and ignoring the sense of unease that was in the pit of his stomach, he closed it and turned back to her. "Is there something you wish to tell me Steven?" She queried, crossing her arms over her stomach.

"No?" He remarked, drawing the word out as he searched his mind for what she could mean.

"I thought we were partners but it appears that perhaps we have different ideas about what a partner actually is. When were you going to tell me about Riley joining 50? Or were you just planning on waiting until someone else told me or I approached you about it. I told you at the beginning that you needed to discuss your ideas and decisions with me even if you didn't discuss them with anyone else but you didn't. I find out that everyone else knows before I do that you've brought someone new onto the team?" She stopped shaking her head, almost choking on the question she wanted to ask, but the question she was too scared to ask.

Had Riley been brought to 50 to replace Danni as Steve's partner?

She swallowed hard, her eyes flickering away from Steve briefly before she forced herself to meet his gaze.

"Danni, I know we've discussed getting more people in to help with the workload so we could actually all get an actual day off work. You remember that?" He asked her, watching as she nodded slightly. "Good because this is why Riley's been hired Danni. We need to train him up which will take two weeks so you should take these two weeks to stay in the office and catch up on your paperwork, we're getting a few chaser calls about it. Once Riley is trained we can start looking for someone to help you here" He remarked, waving a hand towards the files.

Danni's heart sank at his words as she realised that Steve had benched her.

A wave of anger came over her, overwhelming her for a second, she closed her eyes, forcing herself to count to ten in an effort to control her emotions.

Would he had done this if she hadn't of given into the attraction sizzling between them and slept with him?

Did he view her differently now?

Had any respect he had for her gone?

Had she managed to wreck things?

"Danni?" Danni opened her eyes at the sound of Steve's voice being careful to hide her emotions behind her usual thoughtful mask that she knew Steve couldn't read.

"I understand Commander, I'll get on with this" She said simply, sitting in her chair and bringing her email up, selecting the first one and opening it, remaining silence as she began reading it.

Steve watched her for a moment, opening his mouth to ask her what was wrong but he closed it, glancing over his shoulder to see the rest of the team watching him, all of them independently shaking their head at him, their expressions making it clear that he should leave it.

Steve sighed silently, wishing she would understand his reasoning why he had done this so quickly. He wanted to be able to give her time to catch up with her files. They were overworked and understaffed. Riley was a start even though they still needed two or three more people. Once they had them they could take the weekend off and spend it with Grace without the worry that they would be called in. She could go to a meeting in the morning and not feel rushed that she had to come back to work, she could even take the day off if she wanted to. Steve couldn't remember when any of them had, had a day off.

Danni deserved to have some time off to spoil herself and Grace, Steve only hoped that when she did that he could come as well to whatever they did.

Shaking his head he turned and headed out of her office, closing the door behind him and headed over to Riley's office, stepping into it, his mind focused on his and Danni's time together, replaying it in his mind.

"You have it bad my friend" Riley remarked, looking up from where he was unpacking a box of his belongings, a knowing smile on his face.

"I don't know wh…" Steve's voice trailed off when Riley shot him a quick look.

"You need to be careful smooth dog because it's pretty clear that you two need to talk. I'm guessing from the look on her face when you passed me my badge that you neglected to tell her that you were hiring me." Riley remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"There wasn't any time to tell her" Steve answered, looking towards his friend in time to see Riley's raise his black eyes towards the ceiling before he pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingertips.

"Wow, I've only met the woman once Steve and even I know that, that is a bad mistake on your part." Riley commented.

Steve frowned at him, turning to look at Danni's office over his shoulder, his heart sinking again when he saw that Danni had drawn all her blinds. She had never closed her blinds before but each and every member of the team knew what it meant. If the blinds are down then you didn't interrupt her for any reason at all.

"She called me Commander earlier when we were in her office." Steve commented, sounding troubled as he looked back towards Riley. "The last time she called me by my title was the first day we met."

"Which means you've messed up… probably big time. Did you even tell her that I was coming on the team?" Riley asked quietly, his eyes narrowing slightly when Steve nodded.

"We've been talking about finding new members for a while and we agreed that we need to do it."

"That's not what I mean Steve, I mean did you tell her that I would be starting today with the team?" Riley pressed.

"No, I've been with you most of the weekend helping you get moved into your new place. And helping you get a new car and everything."

"I think I might know why she called you Commander" Riley told him, looking towards the door when he heard a knock at it. "Come in" He called out, his eyes widening slightly when he saw Danni at the door, her face expressionless as her large grey eyes flickered between them,

"We have a new case" she stated before she turned and headed over to the computer table where the rest of the team were standing, clearly waiting to be briefed.

Steve frowned when he saw Jack duck down and murmur something to Danni, who gave the blond man a pat on the shoulder before she placed the file she was holding on the computer table and took the controller Chin offered her with a small warm smile at the native man.

She waited until Steve and Riley joined them before she brought up an image of a woman in her late thirties and a young boy of about eight.

"We have a kidnapping" She announced getting straight to the point. "This is Clare and William Maze, at eleven o clock in this morning they went into their local store and found themselves in a hostage situation. An undercover cop almost had them out when one of the robbers noticed and grabbed the boy and used him as a human shield. The robber got out of the store and hijacked a car that someone was getting into. He took the boy with him. HPD are trying to find the car but I think we'll have better luck. Toast, do your thing please, here are the details" She commented, passing a sheet of paper and handed it to Toast who nodded at her, a serious look on his face. None of them liked working cases where Children were involved. Danni continued to speak. "I'll get the phone to the DA and the court house. Judge Kaliaka is on duty today so I should be able to get us any warrants we need. Toast will send you the details to your cell phones. Good luck out there guys, call if you need anything." She smiled faintly at them and turned and headed back towards her office.

"Wait, aren't you coming out in the field with us Danni?" Kono called after her, sounding surprised.

"No Kono, I'll be here in the office catching up with my files" She replied, ignoring the looks she received as she headed back into her office, closing the door behind her. Kono stared at the door for a second before she turned to Steve with a shocked look.

"What the hell boss? Why the hell is Danni staying here? We're going to need her help out there so why is she benched?" The young girl demanded. Steve glanced at Riley who simply shrugged at him before he headed over to Toast, leaving Steve to deal with his team.

"I'm not benching Danni, I'm just taking Riley into the field with me for the next two weeks to help train him and to see what he can do and how he can work with us. I thought it would give Danni a chance to catch up with all the work she's behind of." He told them, his eyes moving between them aware of the atmosphere growing which told him that his team weren't happy with his decision.

He wanted to explain the situation to them more but a sound of triumph from Toast caught his attention.

"We got him" Toast said, turning to look at them. "I'll send you the details so get out there" He stated. Steve nodded, watching as the other split into two, their faced grim as they hurried out of the main room. Steve allowed himself one more look at Danni's closed door before he turned and headed out of the door, Riley at his shoulder.

They had a child to save.

* * *

Author Note

 **Thanks for taking the time to read, an especially big thank you if you've taken the time to review, follow or favourite the story. I really appreciate it!**


	3. Chapter 3

Two Weeks

By

Landon Richardson and Tealrose

Disclaimer

 **The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly and Adam 'Toast' Charles and anyone else who might sound familiar to the reader do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes**

 **The character of Danni Williams is probably mine by now. Even though she was originally based on male Danny Williams I think it's probably safe to say that's she turned into her own individual character with her own set of beliefs and personality, especially since I've created a back ground for her which is different to male Danny's background in the show. This also affects Grace who is different from the show as well in ways.**

 **The characters of Jack O'Connor and Riley King most definitely belong to me though**

 **I should also add that if a character is mentioned who you are not instantly aware of then that character belong to me as well**

Author Note

 **So here's a story which has been co-written with the wonderful Tealrose, if you haven't done so then you should read her NCIS stories because they are great and were one of things which got me back into the NCIS fiction world!**

 **I know I had said that I wouldn't put up any stories until some of my others were finished but this story is technically finished so it doesn't require any additional work from me other than reading through it and making sure that I didn't make any stupid mistakes. If I've missed anything then that is completely my fault and no one else's.**

 **This story belongs in 'the what if 'story saga. It could be a part of the main saga (The beginning, family ect ect) but isn't. It's more a look at how some things could have happened but didn't so this is a way which Riley King could have joined 50 but it's not the official way he did. We just like experimenting and keeping the muse happy!**

 **Anyway enough from me, please enjoy and have a wonderful new year.**

Overall summary

 **Two weeks was all it took for everything to go wrong and now it was up to Steve McGarrett to fix things... the only problem was he wasn't sure he could. (Part of the 'What if' Danni saga)**

Chapter Summary

 **Danni finished typing her sentence, saving her work and looked down at her watch with a sigh before she came to her feet, reaching up and rubbing at the back of her neck. She had managed to finish quite a few of the files which had been sitting in her in-tray which was a relief for her. Sighing again she dropped her hand and picked up her coffee mug from the surface of her desk and left her office looking around her absently.**

Overall romance

 **Steve McGarrett/Danni Williams**

 **Eventual mentions of other romances as we go.**

Chapter Romance

 **Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams**

* * *

Chapter Three

* * *

Danni finished typing her sentence, saving her work and looked down at her watch with a sigh before she came to her feet, reaching up and rubbing at the back of her neck. She had managed to finish quite a few of the files which had been sitting in her in-tray which was a relief for her. Sighing again she dropped her hand and picked up her coffee mug from the surface of her desk and left her office looking around her absently.

Other than Toast and Jenna the place was silent and she hated it. Normally she loved the silence but this silence made it clear that she wasn't really needed anymore.

She washed her cup, putting it back in the cupboard before she left the kitchen and headed back into her office gathering her belongings together and closed her system down before she entered the bulpen again, her eyes landed on Toast and Jenna who were working quietly at the computer table.

"Guys, I'm heading out now to pick up Grace from school, you can call me on my cell up until six if you need me." She told them, not waiting for a response as she headed out of the door, thankful that the day was finally over and done with and she could go home and be with Grace.

She glanced up as the elevators doors opened and the rest of the team came out of it, all of them looking frustrated and angry. She raised an eyebrow

"What's happened? Is the child okay?" She asked, her eyes moving over their faces as they came to a stop by her.

"Yes" Kono replied, a tone to her voice which made Danni frown.

"So if the child is okay then why do you all look so angry, did something else happen? You're all okay right?" She asked, she needed to leave to get Grace but she couldn't leave until she knew what had happened.

"We saved the kids from the kidnapper, we had to take him down with a shot in the shoulder. The kid wasn't anywhere near when we made he shot but now his mother is claiming that we deafened her baby boy because he was too close when we fired" Riley explained quietly.

Danni stared at them for a moment before she reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Great just great" She murmured before dropping her hand and looking around their faces aware that they seemed to be waiting for her to speak. "We can get this cleared up, write your reports now about what exactly happened tonight, email me them as soon as you've finished them and I'll read through them and see where we stand" She told them, her eyes flickering around them, lingering briefly on Steve before she turned and headed to the elevator, pressing the call button and stepping in when the doors slid open. She breathed out slowly as she pressed the button for the ground floor, her eyes widening when Chin suddenly slipped through the doors and turned to her. She met his dark eyes, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.

"Is everything okay?" She asked him, surprised when he shrugged at her.

"Not really" He replied surprising her. "The mother was listening in while she was hugging her boy while we spoke to the police telling them what had happened, that was when she had begun to shriek that we had deafened her boy. It doesn't make any sense, the boy wasn't near us when the shot was taken. He was shaken but he was pretty thankful to us considering the kidnapper had him in a death grip on his neck. He was already bruising, the EMTs looked him over and that was the only damage he had. The kid kept telling his mother that he was fine but she just wouldn't listen to him and kept saying that we would hear from her lawyer" Chin explained, his frown growing as he thought back to the scene. "The officers are going to write reports about the incident as well and they were wearing their cameras on their uniforms so we have it all caught on video."

Danni breathed a sigh of relief at the news.

"I'll inform the DA of what happened when I've read the reports through. Most of this will just be adrenaline though" Danni told him, her eyes flickering between him and flashing floor number "You think about all that the mother has been through throughout the day, being held hostage, her kid being taken away from her arms and her being unable to do anything about it. Never knowing whether she would see him again. The strain on her would be incredible and sometimes all that fear and anxiety and grief can manifest itself into rage and that can be misdirected. That's most likely what happened here. I would probably be the same if it had happened to me and Grace. Once she calms down and sees things clearly then things will improve. Who took the shot that took the kidnapper down?" She questioned as they both stepped out of the elevator and into the busy foyer.

"Riley did and it was a damn good shot as well. He had to walk away for a bit afterwards, it probably reminded him of something from his past SEAL days" Chin told her, both of them sharing a knowing look with each other before Danni looked away from him.

"How did Riley do out there in your eyes?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow when Chin chuckled a bit in response before he shrugged at her.

"He didn't do that badly. There were times that Steve had to remind him to get out of his SEAL mode"

"SEAL mode?" Danni queried

"Like Steve was at the very beginning, completely focused on the task at hand to the point of have tunnel vision. It be interesting to see how he does when he's at a crime scene but he was asking questions and trying to learn and it helps to have another weapon expert on the team. Steve says he's the best sniper he's ever worked with or come across." Danni nodded once, clenching her jaw at the comment knowing that Chin was probably right and Riley would make a good addition to their team. "Riley's not replacing you Danni, you know that right?" Chin remarked, a rare gentle tone coming to his voice.

Danni couldn't help the wry, almost bitter laugh which escaped her as she turned to the older man.

"Yeah, that's why I was left here in the office while he was out there at Steve's side, covering his six. That to me Chin is being replaced." She told him shortly before forcing herself to smile at him. "I'm late for picking Grace up from school, I'll speak to you later" She turned, not waiting for him to respond and hurried out of the building, and down the steps into her car.

She drove to Grace's school arriving just as the classes were being let out. She climbed out of her car and looked around her, eyes focusing on Amy and Grace who both saw her at the same time, their wide smiles turning into looks of concern as they both made their way over to her, Grace throwing her arms around her and holding on tightly to her as though she had no intention of letting go.

"Are you all right? I heard from Meka earlier that you had a bad case." Amy remarked quietly, her dark eyes flickering down to make sure Grace wasn't paying attention.

"No I didn't, the rest of the team did. I was in the office all day and will be doing the same thing for the next two weeks." Danni answered with a shake of her head. Amy looked up at her giving her a hard look before she spoke.

"We need to go out for a coffee… right now Danni and I won't take no for an answer so don't bother to try and argue with me." She said firmly, pointing her finger at Danni who merely looked bemused. She glanced down when grace hopped up and down on the spot, a gleeful look on her face before she flung her arms around Danni's waist again.

"Snacks at your place Auntie Amy?" She asked hopefully, her smile widening when Amy grinned back at her.

"Whatever you want Ku'uipo" Amy told her brightly with a wink.

Danni opened her mouth to answer but instead just closed it and simply nodded at Amy, leaning down slightly and hugging Grace rightly back for a moment, burying her face in Grace's dark hair, the familiar scent of strawberry soothing her before she stood up.

"Maybe we can get some chocolate cake as a treat" Danni told her daughter, a real smile coming to her face for the first time since Steve had broken the new that morning about Riley joining them when Grace danced on the spot before grabbing her hand and dragging Danni towards their car.

"We'll be right behind you Auntie Amy." The young girl called out, Danni shot her friend a smile over her shoulder before she unlocked the car. The two of them getting in.

* * *

Chin Ho Kelly didn't like getting involved in the personal life of his work mates but there was something about this whole situation which had him on edge, something which told him that if he didn't get involved then the 50 team which they had spent so long building wouldn't survive. Steve and Danni were the core of them and if they lost one of them then the team would be finished. He headed back into the headquarters, Danni's words and sad, angry eyes playing round his head and looked around him for his boss.

He found Steve in his office working on his report, a glare on his face which would have made Chin grin at any other time though he didn't exactly feel like smiling or laughing at this moment of time.

"Glaring at it isn't going to make it go away" Chin commented as he entered the room, closing the door behind him, he didn't want any of the other members of the team to hear what he was going to say. They were still already on edge even if they didn't want to admit it. Danni being upset wasn't something they were used to experiencing especially while at work.

"I wish it would" Steve said now, dropping his pen onto the paperwork. "I had plenty of paperwork to do when was a SEAL but the amount we do here makes that look like a walk in the park" Steve sighed with a shake of his head before he looked up, his eyes moving over Chin's face, his smile fading into a frown. "Is something wrong Chin?" He asked.

"Something could be wrong." Chin said, moving towards the desk and leaning against the side of it, his eyes fixed on the younger man wondering how best to broach the sensitive subject, no one ever really knew how Steve would react when his partner was involved. At least he assumed Danni was still Steve's partner, she had certainly seemed unsure about whether she still held that position on the team which concerned him. None of them, himself included, wanted to see a Steve who was without Danni's calming influence on him. "I'm concerned about Danni, Steve" He stated bluntly.

Steve stared at him for a moment, a look of confusion on his face before he spoke.

"Danni is fine Chin I'd know if she wasn't, I looked through her office and she's got a lot of her paperwork done which I know is something she wanted to get done. The more paperwork she can clear the less stress she'll experience which is a good thing. We're still looking for someone just as good as she is to help with that side of her job but I know we'll find him or her soon and when…"

"That's not what I mean Steve" Chin interrupted the other man with a shake of his head, deciding that the blunt way was clearly the only way to get through to Steve. "Are you taking Riley as your new partner because that's the way it seems to me and if it seems like that to me then it's going to seem that way to everyone else as well, Danni included."

Steve stared at Chin, his mouth open in surprise, the silence between them growing before Steve broke it, coming to his feet and moving to the other side of the desk, so he was opposite Chin.

"Why do you think that?" He demanded, leaning his hand down on the surface of the desk, his eyes never leaving Chin's face.

"Where do I start Brah?" Chin said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You didn't tell her about Riley even though you're always the one telling us that Danni is in second in command of the team and that we should obey an order from her the same way we obey one from you. The minute Riley arrives on the team, you seem to drop her like she's a hot potato. You left her here with Toast and Jenna when we had an active case a though she was the team's PA or a member of the brain squad instead of a highly training Detective who is one of the best out there and as far as I can see you still haven't given her the time of day today to explain why you've done all of this. To me, it seems like you've been making do with Danni as your partner until you could get Riley on the team and it wouldn't surprise me if everyone else and Danni feel the same way. You must have felt the atmosphere growing because I sure as hell have." He told the other man, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Steve opened his mouth before he closed it, his eyes moving frantically from side to side before he closed them, breathing out a sound of acknowledgement.

"Damn it, so that's why she's being acting weird all day… Fuck, I thought she understood why I've done this. I want us all to get some time off and not to feel so overworked and the only way to do that is to hire people, that's why I'm so desperate to find someone to help her with the aftermath of cases so it's not just on her" He said, bringing his hand up and squeezing the back of his neck, his eyes squeezing shut for a moment before he opened them and looked up at Chin. "I've messed this up royally haven't I?"

"As much as I'd like to say no, you kind of did mess this one up, not only have you managed to annoy Danni but the rest of the team aren't exactly your biggest fan either. I'm pretty sure that Toast and Jenna are planning to unleash a virus on your computer as pay back and it wouldn't surprise me if they get Jack involved. You did it for the right reasons Steve, you just did it the wrong way." Chin remarked, his mouth curling into a small smile as he thought back to the whispered conversation between Toast and Jenna that he had overheard.

"I'll speak to the team" Steve told Chin who nodded at him.

"What's with the sudden desperation to get more people in, I know you and Danni have talked about it before but over the past week you've been almost obsessed with the idea. Is there something behind it?" The older man questioned thoughtfully.

Steve raised an eyebrow at him making his face blank. The last thing he wanted was to explain why he wanted more time alone with Danni. He didn't think the rest of the team knew about the change in his and Danni's relationship. A change he had been wanted since two weeks after he met her, once the grief of his father's murdered had cleared enough to really see the woman who he had made his partner. It wasn't just her looks which attracted them though he could admit she was the most attractive blond he had seen. It was her personality which had really attracted him to her, the more time he spent with her both in and out of work, the more he fell for her. That night, the week before was one of the best nights of his life and he was determined that he would spend every night falling asleep with Danni and waking up with her. He just needed to convince her of the same thing, a plan which had just experienced a major hit.

"We have fewer people than HPD do Chin so when we get called in we all get called in, even on our days off when we have plans with friends, family or we have planned outings together. We can't do those things, we don't even have many days off and that's only if we get lucky. Even Kono has been sad because she's can't get as much time surfing as she used to and both Jack and Danni are missing time with their kids. That's why it's so important we get more staff in as soon as possible." He said, hoping that the answer would satisfy Chin enough that he wouldn't ask any more questions about Steve's motivations.

Chin nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing as he watched Steve.

"There's something else behind this" He stated confidently. "Something that you're not telling me and we can stay here until you tell me. I've got all day after all."

* * *

Danni pushed open the door to Amy's coffee shop and entered, taking in a deep breath, a smile coming to her face when she was assaulted by the familiar smell of coffee and chocolate, two of her favourite smells.

"You both go and grab a table and I'll get our usual order in." Amy told her and Grace who both nodded at her. Danni took Grace's hand as they headed over to their usual table which was thankfully free. She sat down in her chair, her eyes widening slightly in surprise when Grace plonked herself down in her lap, her arms wrapping round her neck and nuzzled close to her.

"Is everything okay baby?" Danni asked her, running her hand down Grace's hair, bending her face down slightly, trying to peer into her face. Grace nodded, leaning back her big brown eyes focusing on her.

"You look sad Mamma. What is wrong? Even Auntie Amy sees it." She said, nibbling at her lower lip.

"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding but I'm not sure. It's hard to explain baby" Danni answered with a sigh, brushing a kiss over Grace's hair.

"Grown up stuff huh?" Grace said with an echoing sigh.

"Yeah grown up things" Danni repeated, hugging Grace tight as she looked up to see Amy approaching the table with a big piece of hers and Grace's favourite chocolate fudge cake that they liked to share, along with a large, steaming hot cup of latte for her and Amy and two smaller mugs of hot chocolate for Grace and Billy.

Danni smiled when Grace scrambled off of her lap and onto the chair next to Billy. Amy waited until the two children were paying the adults no attention before she turned to Danni and spoke.

"Care to explain what's wrong with you? Did something happen at work?" She asked him, keeping her voice low and quiet. Just because the children were busy now, didn't mean that they would remain that way. Danni hesitated for a moment, her eyes flickering away from Amy to stare out of the window.

"I think… I think I've been replaced as Steve's partner." She admitted lowly.

Amy tilted her head to the side, looking at her friend hard. She knew how badly not fitting in at HPD had hurt and damaged Danni, more than the other woman would ever admit though Amy knew, having been there from the very beginning. She had liked Danni from their first meeting finding the younger woman generous and kind with a wicked sense of humour which never failed to make Amy laugh. It hadn't taken them long to become best friends or for Danni to be switched from the position of friend to beloved younger sister resulting in her and Meka being rather over protective of the blond. If Steve McGarrett had somehow taken Danni's new confidence and happiness and damaged it somehow then Amy swore silently that she would make him suffer in return. Still she had seen the way they were together and maybe on this one occasion Steve deserved the benefit of the doubt. Glancing again at the children she spoke.

"Why would you think that? I can see the way Steve feels for you and how much he cares for you. He watches you constantly and I know you have feelings for him as well, don't bother trying to deny it." Danni closed her mouth knowing it was pointless to argue when he knew that Amy always saw too much. "You know Danni, you've been longing for a true day off, one where you wasn't always on edge because you might be called in; you've even had to leave our BBQ's before because of work. Last time we spoke about this you were excited about getting some new members of the team."

"I know" Danni said reaching up and rubbing his forehead. "It's not that it's…" she stopped.

"It's what Danni?" Amy asked, tilting her head to the side. "You know I'd be the first to kick Steve McGarrett's ass if the situation at hand called for it but is it possible that he's actually doing this for you? That in some way he's trying to be…" Her voice trailed off hesitantly for a moment as she tried to pick the right word. "Romantic towards you by giving you what you want and need? Obviously he's gone completely the wrong way about it but this is McGarrett we're talking about after all." She pointed out with a shrug.

Danni took a huge bite of the cake, almost moaning at how good it tasted as she tried to put into words exactly how she felt. She took a sip of her latte, swallowing it and spoke.

"It's not the fact he's hired people, it's the way he's done it Amy. He's gone and hired his old friend, a man by the name of Riley. Do you remember him?" She asked, watching as Amy's face brightened.

"Of course I do, he's the one who makes Rosie blush every time his name is mentioned. He certainly is handsome, I may be happily married but I still have eyes after all."

Danni smirked slightly as she nodded but her heart wasn't really in the smile, something which Amy picked up on instantly.

"Riley and Steve are best friends from their SEAL days together, even when we cleared him of that crime he was framed for I could still tell that the bond between them was at full force and now he's working with us, with Steve as his partner for the next two weeks. I thought I was Steve's partner but he didn't even tell me that he was hiring him. He had plenty of opportunity and yet he says nothing. I know that Steve and I don't share the same bond as him and Riley but to be pushed aside so publically in front of our team. How can I forgive that? He's undermined me completely. What's next, an email going around to tell everyone that Riley is now the second in command while I'm what? The clean-up girl for our cases?"

"Danni…" Amy began stopping when Danni continued.

"He stood there in front of me and told me he was benching me for two weeks and the he told me that I could stay in the office and get on with all the paperwork while he and the rest of the team went out and worked the cases. I'm sick of it Amy, I'm sick of being treated like a PA and having to deal with all the cases once they are completed, why can't one of the others go and present the cases to the DA's office? I'm tired of it and I feel… I feel…" She stopped, looking up at Amy when the other woman covered her hands with hers with a sympathetic look.

"Underappreciated?" She suggested, wincing when Danni nodded after a moment.

"Underappreciated" She agreed quietly swallowing hard and looking down at her cake, unable to keep eye contact with Amy.

* * *

Steve froze at Chin's comment, glancing up at him and hiding a wince when he recognised the look in the older man's eyes which told him that Chin had slipped into Detective mode and wouldn't stop until he had all the answers that he was seeking.

Answers which Steve didn't want to give. Sighing he shook his head and began to talk.

"Look Chin, Danni is tired, I can see it in her eyes, especially since I live with her still while the house is being fixed up, and I see her when the mask is down. It's not just Danni, Jack doesn't get much time with his two girls either. We can't even do anything together as a group, we can't plan things in advance just in case we get called into work and when we finally do it more often than not gets cancelled. We can't go on like this." Steve stated, rubbing the back of his neck, a habit which Chin knew the younger man had picked up from Danni.

"Yeah, it has been a bit stressful. I mean don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change being a part of the team for anything but a few breaks and days off would be good here and there. We get why you hired Riley. Steve. No one is disagreeing with the fact that we need more people to help with the workload.

"Exactly, not to mention the fact that Grace has a lot of events and games coming up at school and she is desperate for her mother to be there for each one and I know Danni is desperate to be there as well. Grace is in the school play and she's on the softball team. I don't want Danni to miss things because we're so bust here. You've seen the pile of files on her desk right? Half of those files are potential cases for us. Picking the right one is a lot of work so it makes sense for Danni to stay behind while I deal with Riley" Steve stated, looking up and meeting Chin's eyes, keeping his gaze. Chin's eyes narrowed slightly before he spoke.

"Why does it have to be you who is with Riley?" The older man queried curiously. "It would make more sense for Riley to partner with Danni or with me while you stayed behind and look through the potential cases. You and Riley know how to work together. Danni is a detective and I doubt Riley has worked with anyone like her before. If there's anyone other than me who can tell if Riley is suited for police work then it's her. I mean Danni is still teaching you after all, you're the one who told me that." Chin pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest.

Steve chuckled at the comment, shaking his head.

"That's true but she doesn't know his quirks yet and she doesn't know either how to get him out of the SEAL mode that can get into. You saw that first hand today when the kidnapper had the kid before Riley took that shot. It's going to take a while for him to get out of that mentality and until he does then he'll need something familiar. The code words I used earlier is something we used when we were still in the SEALs. Until I can be sure that Riley can stay out of that mode then it's best to do things the way we are doing them" Steve told Chin, frowning slightly when he thought back to that time. He knew exactly what Riley was going through, he had gone through it at the beginning as well, consumed by rage at his father's death and the situation he had found himself in until he realised that what he had found in Hawaii helped make up for what he had lost. If he had never returned home then he would never have found Danni and that was something he didn't want to think about.

"Yeah I guess we don't need to go through that again. I agree with that but you've got to remember that you haven't explained any of this to Danni and she's going to feel like she's being replaced by Riley if you don't tell her the reasoning behind everything soon."

Steve shook his head in denial at Chin's comment, a frown coming to his face.

"Danni wouldn't think she's being replaced by Riley" He stated confidently, his eyes narrowing slightly when Chin raised an eyebrow at him. "Why? Did Danni say something to you earlier to make you think she was feeling that way?" He demanded.

"It's not my place to say Steve. What Danni says or doesn't say to me is between just me and her but as your friend Steve I would suggest you head home early tonight and talk to her or you might find yourself faced with the silent treatment from her and no one wants that punishment from Danni. Once was enough for everyone Brah" Chin told him, turning and heading out of the office leaving a thoughtful Steve staring after him.

* * *

Author Note

 **Thanks for taking the time to read, an especially big thank you if you've taken the time to review, follow or favourite the story. I really appreciate it!**


	4. Chapter 4

Two Weeks

By

Landon Richardson and Tealrose

Disclaimer

 **The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Adam 'Toast' Charles, Mary McGarrett and anyone else who might sound familiar to the reader do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes**

 **The character of Danni Williams is probably mine by now. Even though she was originally based on male Danny Williams I think it's probably safe to say that's she turned into her own individual character with her own set of beliefs and personality, especially since I've created a back ground for her which is different to male Danny's background in the show. This also affects Grace who is different from the show as well in ways.**

 **The characters of Jack O'Connor, Riley King and Louisa Palakiko-Cowan most definitely belong to me though**

 **I should also add that if a character is mentioned who you are not instantly aware of then that character belong to me as well**

Author Note

 **So here's a story which has been co-written with the wonderful Tealrose, if you haven't done so then you should read her NCIS stories because they are great and were one of things which got me back into the NCIS fiction world!**

 **I know I had said that I wouldn't put up any stories until some of my others were finished but this story is technically finished so it doesn't require any additional work from me other than reading through it and making sure that I didn't make any stupid mistakes. If I've missed anything then that is completely my fault and no one else's.**

 **This story belongs in 'the what if 'story saga. It could be a part of the main saga (The beginning, family ect ect) but isn't. It's more a look at how some things could have happened but didn't so this is a way which Riley King could have joined 50 but it's not the official way he did. We just like experimenting and keeping the muse happy!**

 **Anyway enough from me, please enjoy and have a wonderful new year.**

Overall summary

 **Two weeks was all it took for everything to go wrong and now it was up to Steve McGarrett to fix things... the only problem was he wasn't sure he could. (Part of the 'What if' Danni saga)**

Chapter Summary

 **Danni breathed out slowly as she placed a portion of pasta bake in front of Grace. Her eyes flickering up towards the kitchen door when she heard the familiar sound of keys in the front door lock indicating that Steve had arrived home from work. He was the only person other than Duncan who had a key to her home.**

Overall romance

 **Steve McGarrett/Danni Williams**

 **Eventual mentions of other romances as we go.**

Chapter Romance

 **Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams**

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

Danni breathed out slowly as she placed a portion of pasta bake in front of Grace. Her eyes flickering up towards the kitchen door when she heard the familiar sound of keys in the front door lock indicating that Steve had arrived home from work. He was the only person other than Duncan who had a key to her home.

"Mamma? Is everything okay? You look upset over something, is this about the grown up stuff you mentioned earlier?" Grace asked her, fork in hand as she stared up at Danni with a look of concern in her dark eyes.

Danni smiled at her, leaning down and brushing a soft kiss over the top of Grace's dark hair before she pulled back and spoke.

"Everything is going to be fine Gracie, your Uncle Steve and I just had a difference of opinion over something at work which we need to talk about so once you've eaten would you mind going to your room and getting on with your homework? Once Steve and I have finished I'll come and get you and we can watch a movie before your bedtime. How does that sound?" Danni asked, thankful when the concerned look disappeared from Grace's expression as she nodded eagerly.

"Can I pick the movie?" She asked hopefully causing Danni to laugh.

"I'm pretty sure you picked the last three movies we watched Grace. I'm beginning to think that I need to set up a movie rota to make it fair" She remarked on a sigh, winking at Grace when the small girl laughed even as she shook her head at Danni's suggestion.

"No Mommy! If you do that than that means Steve gets to pick a movie and he always picks weird ones" Grace stated, her nose wrinkling up as she scooped some pasta on to her fork and popped it into her mouth, making a please sound. "This is yummy" she said through her mouthful, making the words muffled.

"I'm glad you like it, but no talking with your mouth full Gracie, you know the rules" Danni scolded lightly, looking up when the door opened and Steve walked into the room, his eyes moving around them both carefully as though trying to gauge what their reaction to him would be.

"Heyho Uncle Steve, Mamma's made pasta bake and it's really good" Grace stated happily, shooting Steve a smile over her shoulder before she began attacking her food in earnest.

"Well it's no surprise if you're mom made it then, she's one of the best cooks I know and I've tried a lot of food by a lot of different people." Steve responded, his eyes fixed on Danni who ignored the look as she pulled out the garlic bread from the oven, placing it on the counter top and grabbed the bread knife, cutting it into even pieces.

"She is the best" Grace corrected, a stubborn look on her face which caused Steve to laugh.

"Okay she's the best" He agreed.

"Thank you both for the praise, though I'm pretty sure that there are better cooks than me out there" Danni remarked coming to the table and placing two bowl full of pasta in front of the seats she and Steve normally took before she headed back and grabbed the garlic bread, bringing that over as well and holding it out to Grace who took two pieces from it with a smile. She took two for herself before passing Steve the bowl and taking her seat.

"So it looks like Riley is going to take a bit of work to get him out of the SEAL mentality. I think he's been in that mode so long that he doesn't realise he's even slipping into it. I just need to figure out a way of doing it. I also got another resume in today, someone who would be perfect to help you with the work needed after a case is wrapped up." Steve said, an undercurrent of eagerness to his voice as he met Danni's eyes.

"We'll talk about this later Steven, I don't want to talk about work at the dinner table tonight." Danni remarked, keeping her voice light. Her gaze flickering from Steve to Grace, noticing that the small girl was watching them with an unhappy look as she looked between them. Danni bit the inside of her lip, she always swore to herself that she wouldn't place her daughter in the middle of anything again and she was determined to keep that promise to herself. "So Gracie, when I was speaking to Amy earlier she was telling me how good the rehearsals for the school play was going and how great she thought you were going to be. There's not long to go until its show time, a couple of weeks or less I think if memory serves me right. Are you nervous Gracie?" She asked, thankful to see Grace's face light up like a Christmas tree as she nodded.

"I'm really nervous Mamma, like terrified but Auntie Amy says I'm going to be really good and nerves are normal and you're going to be there watching me right?" Grace asked pleadingly, biting on her lower lip anxiously.

"I'll make sure that she's there Grace, no matter what come up you have my word on that" Steve injected before Danni could respond. She looked up at him, taking in his earnest face as he looked at Grace. Danni looked down at her food, her mind whirling as she tried to figure out how Steve planned to keep that promise, was he going to bench her further? She had managed to get a lot of paperwork done today which had been a blessing but she wanted to be able to be out in the field. She glanced back up when Grace spoke again.

"You should come to the play as well Uncle Steve, we get four tickets for family; one for mamma, one for Daddy and you can have the last one." Grace informed him, with a smile, turning back to her food and missing the look that Steve shot her at her casual acceptance of Steve being part of her family.

"I wouldn't miss it Grace" He said huskily, swallowing hard, he turned and looked at Danni but she was focused on her meal as well though unlike her daughter, she seemed to be just pushing the pasta around the plate.

The rest of the meal passed in quiet talk, Danni directing the majority of her comments towards Grace who quickly cleared her plates and asked to excused, placing it on the side by the sink when Danni gave her permission and hurried from the room, closing the door behind her. Steve breathed out, opening his mouth to speak but Danni beat him to it.

"We'll talk in the living room Steve" She stated, her voice expressionless.

Steve nodded, his eyes widening when Danni stood up and headed towards the door, pulling it open and leaving the room without another word. He stared at the leftover food and dishes left on the table and realised with a sinking heart that Chin had been right when he had said that Danni was angry. He had never seen her leave the plates before. Getting to his feet, he followed her out of the room and into the living room, closing the door behind him, taking the seat opposite her, his heart sinking further when he saw that she had ignored the sofa where they normally sat together.

"Danni, about today… the Riley situation, I…" He stopped for a moment, trying to figure out the best way of phrasing it. "I'm sorry if I made you feel as though I was replacing you as my partner with Riley, I'm not, I want to make that clear to you. The only person who I want as my partner on this taskforce is the one I already have which is you. I don't want Riley, I don't want Chin or Jack or Kono and I definitely don't want Toast as my partner. I just want you. You're everything I need in a work partner okay?" He said, leaning forward in his chair, studying her face closely, catching the flash of relief in her eyes before they went blank.

"Right" She said with a single nod which placed Steve on edge.

"I handled this badly, I know that okay. Everyone has made their views on that perfectly clear. I was really happy when Riley accepted the job from the Governor. I hadn't planned it, it had actually been the Governor's idea to have Riley join. I thought I had told you about it but I'm guessing that I didn't which was my mistake. I should have spoken to you the minute the Governor called me about it."

"So why didn't you?" Danni asked quietly.

"I guess I was just thankful that we were getting someone else on the team. We've been so overworked at the moment that none of us are getting any downtime and we need it. You need it Danni, I know how tired you've been going from our cases to paperwork and back again. I know we all our share but you take on the brunt of the work that happens once the case is dealt with. That's why I brought the resume of that woman I told you about home today so you could look at it. Even the Governor is worried about us burning out. The more people we get, the more time off we can take, time off that we can spend together Danni without worrying about being called in." He told her, meeting her eyes when they came up to meet his. She searched them for a moment before she sighed, rubbing at her fore head for a second before she dropped it and spoke,

"How long have you been living here now Steve?" She queried, catching the look of confusion which came to his face at her question.

"Seven weeks now" He answered her.

"Seven weeks" She repeated with a nod. "And out of that seven weeks how long have you been sharing a bed with me because it helped keep your nightmares at bay"

"Five weeks" Steve said slower this time, clearly trying to figure out where Danni was going with this line and questioning.

"And we've been a couple for…"

"A week now" Steve said quietly.

"Exactly, so seven weeks now we've been living together and working together day after day, we've shared the same bed for five of those weeks and yet I had to find out from Toast of all people about you hiring Riley. Do you know how it felt getting all those pitying looks from the others today?" She demanded. "And in a way it worst that your reason for not telling me is that you forgot to tell me." She said shakily. "I am your second in command Steve and yet today you completely undermined me in front of our team, you made me look like an idiot and worse you made it look like you don't trust me."

Steve opened his mouth before he closed it, shaking his head.

"No Danni, that isn't what… I didn't mean to make you feel like that okay. I guess with everything going on it just slipped my mind and I know that excuse sucks I do, but it's the truth Danni, I would never hide something from you. All I could think about was us getting time off together and be able to actually spend some time with our families and with Grace and…" He stopped and swallowed, giving him a second to compose himself before he looked up at Danni. "If you want me to together my things together and go then I can do that. I can go and stay at a hotel."

Danni was quiet for a moment, waiting until he looked back at her before she shook her head at him.

"I'm pretty sure we said that we would keep our work and personal life separate as much as we could Steve, Me being pissed at you at work doesn't mean that I'm pissed at you at home. Am I angry at my work partner? Well yeah I'm furious at him, am I angry at my boss? Yeah I am" She stated, meeting his eyes and noticing his barely concealed flinch. "But am I mad at the man who I care about, the man who is becoming more important to me than anyone else other than Grace and my twin then the answer to that is no." She told him softly. "I know you did this for me. I know that and the girlfriend side of me appreciates that you care enough about my happiness to do this. There's a part of me which thinks is vaguely sweet but when we are at work Steve than I am just your work partner. I'm not your girlfriend when he step through the doors to 50. We agreed when we started this up that we wouldn't treat each other differently if we could help it. Putting my happiness above the good of the team is a recipe for disaster. You can't do it again. And yeah you messed up badly at work but that doesn't mean I'm going to throw you out of our home. I'm hoping that one day maybe in the future you'd consider moving in full time" She remarked, watching his reaction closely.

Steve's face brightened, a smile coming to his face before he sighed.

"I never wanted to hurt you Danni, please believe me. I wouldn't."

"I know you wouldn't, at least not on purpose" Danni agreed, leaning back in her chair and bringing her legs up, adjusting herself so they were wrapped beneath her.

"I'll speak to the team tomorrow as soon as everyone and explain to them what happened" He told her, his heart lightening when she finally smiled at him.

"That sounds like the best idea you've had today" She said, tilting her head to the side as she continued to speak. "So, tell me about Riley then. How is he doing?"

"I think he's going to be good eventually but it will take some work. You and Chin will need to work with him once the two weeks are up. I'll teach you the code words we have for each other. Use the word and it will bring him out of his zone if he goes into it." He said before he sighed. "But I told you that already haven't I? I guess even I'm feeling tired with all the work we have at the moment."

"We do need some downtime, our list of things to do is adding up. We still need to see that builder you wanted to see for your house, we've had to cancel the last two times." Danni commented, looking serious for a second before she suddenly smiled. "So the Governor is worried about us being overworked?"

"Yeah she is. In my last meeting with her, the one where she told me about Riley, she also told me that she wanted us to hire at least four more people and to get a move on with it and that she wanted them hired within two months. She also told me to get my head out of my ass and to take you away for a long weekend where we couldn't be reached by anyone, herself included." He remarked, smiling when he caught the look of surprise on Danni's face before she laughed in disbelief.

"She is way too blunt for a Governor." Danni commented with a shake of her head before she came to her feet. "I know you're sorry for what you did Steve and it will take a while for me to get over it but I will but things need to change. If you do something like this again then you won't need to worry about hurting my feelings because my request for a transfer would be on your desk and with the Governor before you could finish speaking." She told him seriously.

"Then I best make sure I don't mess up again because I need you on the team Danni. You're the one who keeps me focused and sane at times."

"Don't I know it" Danni agreed, bridging the gap between them and lowered herself onto Steve's lap, leaning forward and kissing him, feeling the tension ease out of him as he returned the kiss. She leaned back, meeting his eyes. "You're an idiot but you're my idiot. Just don't do it again and make sure that you speak to the team tomorrow and explain everything to them, especially to Toast and Kono. Those are two people who you do not want to be on the wrong side of." She stated.

"Understood" He said, nuzzling his face into her neck, kissing the skin.

"Good, so tell me about this new person who resume you have because you looked ready to burst over it earlier. She better be mine as well Steve. I'm a Detective, I'm meant to be out there doing what I'm good at. I'm not a girl meant to be contained in an office drowning in paperwork." She stated, a tone of longing to her voice which she couldn't hide.

"I know Danni and we'll get you out there again soon, you just need to be patient for a bit longer" He told her, bringing his hand up and cupping the back of her neck as he continued speaking "Her name is Louisa Palakiko-Cowan and I think you'll like her. She used to work with me in intelligence but she's looking for something less action packed because she's got a small family now who she wants to be with so she would be happy remaining in the office and dealing with the paperwork. I've worked with her several times before and she's really extremely good at what she does. I brought it home so you can have a look at it"

"That's music to my ear but later on, I promised Gracie we would watch a movie together once you and I had spoken" Danni remarked, leaning forward and kissing him again.

Steve held her tightly to him, his other hand moving up her back, each kiss becoming more heated than the last when his cell phone suddenly went off with a pop song that was so unlike Steve that it had him and Danni jerking apart to stare at each other in frank surprise before they turned as one to look at his cargo pant pocket where the noise was going from. He moved slightly, his arm wrapped around Danni to keep her steady as he forced the phone out, staring at the picture ID blankly.

"It's Mary" He stated, looking up at Danni who was watching him with an amused look.

"Are you going to answer the call or has a few kisses blown your mind?" She teased with a wink. He pulled a face at her before he answered it.

"Hey Mary, how you doing?" He asked, smiling when Mary responded brightly.

"Not bad big brother. I'm kind of missing the Hawaiian sunshine at the moment so I was thinking of coming over for a visit if that's okay?" She asked him.

"Yeah of course, is everything okay? You doing okay right?" He asked, frowning slightly when she sighed.

"Everything is fine Steve. I'm more stable than the last time we saw each other if that is what you're worried about. I just need a break from LA, maybe a new start would do me some good" She admitted. Steve glanced up when Danni cupped his face.

"She okay?" she mouthed at him.

"Don't know" he mouthed back. Danni nodded, leaning forward and kissing his forehead before she climbed off of his lap and headed out of the living room, leaving him alone in it.

"Steve are you still there?" Mary queried, an uncertain tone to her voice.

"Yeah I'm here Mare, look why wait to come over. If you don't have work at the moment then why don't you fly over now? We've got plenty of space here so you can come and stay with us while you get yourself sorted or if you'd rather stay somewhere else so I don't cramp your style then I can help you. It be good to see you" He told her.

"You mean it?" Mary asked.

"Yeah Mare I mean it, we're family and I've missed you" He admitted. He had been missing her and his Aunt and Uncle and cousins a great deal more now that he was settled in Hawaii with an actual home. "I think you would like Danni and Grace and the rest of my team. I…" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Mary interrupted.

"Danni? Who is Danni? Is she a girl? Man I am so coming over now as soon as I can get a fight"

"Danni is a girl who is my second command at work and my partner" He began, stopping again when she spoke over him.

"I am so hearing a but coming up here Steve"

"Well there would be one if you would let me finish a sentence Mary" He remarked, making sure he kept his voice amused so she wouldn't take offence before he carried on speaking. "But she's also my girlfriend and Grace is her eight year old daughter. I live with them at the moment while the house is fixed up. You remember I told you about it being involved in a gunfight? I figured that I might as well get the whole place updated and redecorated at the same time." He stated.

"I can't blame you for that. Dad always did keep things out of date for some reason. I'm guessing you have enough money for it all. I'm guessing if Danni is your girlfriend and you're living with her then she will be helping you pick out colour scheme. At least I hope she is, you're not exactly known for your DIY skills."

"That's classified Mary" Steve answered with a grin, ignoring his sister's sound of mock outrage. "Just get here as soon as you can okay. Let me know your fight and stuff when you book it. I'll pick you up from the airport."

"You got it Steve, bye"

"Bye Mare" Steve replied, hanging up the phone, he came to his feet, pushing the phone back into his pocket and headed into the kitchen, smiling when he saw Danni had already put the leftover in the Tupperware boxes she used and were now washing the dishes.

He moved behind her wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Everything okay with your sister?" Danni asked, glancing over her shoulder at him with a questioning look.

"She seems okay. She's coming out here for a visit but I think she may end up staying here. I don't think things are going great in LA. I want to keep a close eye on here and help her get back on the straight and narrow again." He told her, leaning down and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Well you know she's welcome to stay here" Danni offered instantly, looking back at the plate she was washing.

"I appreciate the offer babe but I'm not sure if she will or not. You never know with Mary. It sounds like she's going through a lot, going from job to job, drinking and probably doing other stuff as well. She always seems to get out of any trouble she falls into but sometimes her decisions still kick her in the ass from time to time." He remarked with a frown.

"It sounds like she's searching for something, maybe if she comes here then she'll find it. We can work faster on your family home as well, she may want to stay there" Danni suggested, her comment causing Steve to smile when he heard the fact she was referring to them as a 'we'

Whatever happened, he had the feeling that they would deal with it together.

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Author Note

 **Thanks for taking the time to read, an especially big thank you if you've taken the time to review, follow or favourite the story. I really appreciate it!**


	5. Chapter 5

Two Weeks

By

Landon Richardson and Teal Rose

Disclaimer

 **The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Adam 'Toast' Charles, Mary McGarrett and anyone else who might sound familiar to the reader do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes**

 **The character of Danni Williams is probably mine by now. Even though she was originally based on male Danny Williams I think it's probably safe to say that's she turned into her own individual character with her own set of beliefs and personality, especially since I've created a back ground for her which is different to male Danny's background in the show. This also affects Grace who is different from the show as well in ways.**

 **The characters of Jack O'Connor, Riley King and Louisa Palakiko-Cowan most definitely belong to me though**

 **I should also add that if a character is mentioned who you are not instantly aware of then that character belong to me as well**

Author Note

 **So here's a story which has been co-written with the wonderful Tealrose, if you haven't done so then you should read her NCIS stories because they are great and were one of things which got me back into the NCIS fiction world!**

 **I know I had said that I wouldn't put up any stories until some of my others were finished but this story is technically finished so it doesn't require any additional work from me other than reading through it and making sure that I didn't make any stupid mistakes. If I've missed anything then that is completely my fault and no one else's.**

 **This story belongs in 'the what if 'story saga. It could be a part of the main saga (The beginning, family ect ect) but isn't. It's more a look at how some things could have happened but didn't so this is a way which Riley King could have joined 50 but it's not the official way he did. We just like experimenting and keeping the muse happy!**

 **Anyway enough from me, please enjoy and have a wonderful new year.**

Overall summary

 **Two weeks was all it took for everything to go wrong and now it was up to Steve McGarrett to fix things... the only problem was he wasn't sure he could. (Part of the 'What if' Danni saga)**

Chapter Summary

 **Steve yawned, rubbing at his eyes as he stepped into the 50 headquarters, looking around him pleased to see that his whole team was in. Riley was standing slightly to the side of the others, watching his team interacting with each other with a thoughtful expression on his face. No doubt trying to figure out each of them in his mind so he would know how best to approach them. Danni had was standing with Kono and Jenna, the three women huddled closely together, clearly discussing their next girl night out if the matching grins on their faces was any indication for them to go by.**

Overall romance

 **Steve McGarrett/Danni Williams**

 **Eventual mentions of other romances as we go.**

Chapter Romance

 **Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams**

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Chapter Four

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Steve yawned, rubbing at his eyes as he stepped into the 50 headquarters, looking around him pleased to see that his whole team was in. Riley was standing slightly to the side of the others, watching his team interacting with each other with a thoughtful expression on his face. No doubt trying to figure out each of them in his mind so he would know how best to approach them. Danni had was standing with Kono and Jenna, the three women huddled closely together, clearly discussing their next girl night out if the matching grins on their faces was any indication for them to go by.

It had been strange to come into work without Danni that morning but she had said something about needing to take Grace to her school's breakfast club before she went to work to start her paperwork of the day. She had seemed okay after their talk, Grace had joined them and they had ended up watching a movie together before Danni had followed Grace out of the room and gone through their bedtime routine while Steve had made their lunches for the next day. When Danni had returned she had been friendly towards him, though he had detected a look in her eyes which told him that she hadn't completed forgiven him for what he had done and was still hurt by it. He still had to make it up for her.

He had spent at least two hours once they had gone to bed, lying staring up at the ceiling above, his arms wrapped around Danni holding her close as she slept, her head resting on his chest, directly over his heart. He would make this up to her, he had to. He couldn't risk losing her, not only this new relationship they were tentatively exploring together but also their work partnership which he knew needed to keep him steady.

"Morning guys, come and get your coffees while they are hot" He stated as he strode into the room, lifting the two large cup holders he was holding.

"What's in the bag?" Toast asked suspiciously, nodding towards the brown bag that Steve was also holding. Steve glanced down briefly at it before he looked back up, focusing his attention on the tall brunette, aware of his other team member watching him as well.

"Some pastries from that bakery Chin told us about the other week" Steve answered, stopping by the computer table. "Your names are on your coffee cups" He remarked, checking two cups before he pulled them out, holding one out to Danni when she moved towards him. "This is for you, large caramel latte with an extra shot of espresso"

"You remembered" Danni remarked, a smile coming to her face as she took it from him, sniffing at it absently before she took a sip of it, her smile widening as her eyes flickered up to his. "Thanks for this, its needed today."

"I got you a chocolate muffin as well, it's in the bag. I had them put it in a separate bag and put your name on it so the others couldn't get it." He told her with a wink.

Danni made a humming noise at the back of her throat, her gaze turning thoughtful before she looked away from him.

"Well thanks again" She remarked, her voice casual as she turned and headed back to Kono and Jenna who had grabbed their own drinks and were talking quietly together, clearly waiting for Danni to return before they continued their conversation. Breathing out, Steve cleared his throat and spoke.

"I have something to say to you all." He commented, waiting until he had their attention before he turned his attention to Danni, who was waiting patiently for him to speak. "I want to apologise to you Danni for my behaviour yesterday." He told her, watching as her eyes widened in surprise at his comment, clearly she hadn't expected him to actually admit he was wrong in front of the other team but he knew he had to. He turned looking at the other members of the team so they knew he was speaking to them directly. "I messed up big time with the way I acted. I should have kept Dani in the loop with my decision and treated her as my second command. I want to make it clear that regardless of the fact I can be a jackass at times, Danni is and always will be for as long as she can put up with me, my partner. She is also my second in command and in charge any time I'm not in the office. I may have given the wrong impression yesterday that I was replacing her with Riley but I'm not. To be clear, I am hiring new people for 50, not to replace anyone but to give us all a chance to catch up on our paperwork and to give us the chance to have a day off without having to come in because something has come up. It something which the Governor has told me to do. We already have Riley and Danni should be interviewing someone today who will be helping her with the paperwork and actions which needs to be done after we've closed cases. Hopefully we'll get another two people in that as well eventually." Steve told them, finally falling silent as he looked around the team, waiting for someone to say something.

For a moment they remained quiet, looking at each other, having a silent conversation before Jack pushed himself into a standing position and spoke, an undercurrent of amusement to his voice.

"You know anyone would think you brought us these coffees and pastries to soften us up so we would forgive you." He remarked, his mouth curling into a half smile to ease the sting of his words.

"Would I do a thing like that?" Steve replied back with a raised eyebrow, thankful that at least one of his team had already forgiven him though it didn't surprise him that it was Jack. He still didn't know much about the tall blond in front of him but what he had learned was the fact that Jack didn't seem to hold onto grudges, especially if it was to do with a member of the team.

"I think we're still in shock that you paid for it all boss" Kono remarked, sounding amused though he could read her well enough to know that the younger officer was still pissed at him. She and Danni had hit it off from the first day they met and were now extremely close friends, he knew that Kono viewed Danni as an older sister figure and had clearly taken Steve's unintentional slight against Danni to heart.

"So how many people exactly are you planning on hiring? Has the Governor given you a figure to work with?" Chin asked, interrupting smoothly before his cousin could say anything further to Steve.

"She would eventually like us to hire six more people to go out into the field so that we have two teams of six that we have. It would mean that we could take on more than one case at once, our resources won't be as stretched and it will make travelling to the different island easier" Steve said. Chin nodded slowly at him.

"That would be helpful" the older native said with a nod. "Especially if it means that we'll be able to take some more time off without having to come in."

"My thoughts exactly." Steve agreed, his eyes flickering to the right when Danni came to his side, though she remained quietly. Steve's attention swung to Jenna when the red head spoke up.

"Are you planning on hiring some people to help me and Toast with the computer and Intel side of things?" She asked curiously. "We can deal easily enough with a team of six, probably even deal with a few more but twelve people working on more than one case at once may cause a problem, especially if we're to keep our high standard that we got going on."

"Like maybe two more people, one person to deal with me with the computer side of thing and one to help Jenna with her Intel stuff." Toast commented.

"I think that's a fair request from you both so we can definitely look into that and see who we can find to help, if you have any suggestions then you can pass their CVs over as well to us." Danni commented speaking up finally. "Steve and I spoke last week and we've both agreed that it's time we all started learning each other's jobs to help when the loads are especially heavy, like they are at the moment, it will also be helpful if someone calls in sick."

"That sounds like a good idea to me." Kono said with a nod while the others made sounds of agreement. Steve smiled at them.

"I'm going to leave one of you behind today with Danni, we might as well start learning a soon as possible. I'll be staying with her for a couple of days at the end of next week so during that time Chin will be in charge of the external team during any new cases which comes in. Who wants to stay behind today?" He asked, looking around the team, watching as they shared another look before Jack spoke.

"I'll stay behind today, Bella has a dentist appointment this afternoon and she's not fond of the dentist so I think its best if I'm there to hold her hand during it, just to make it easier on her. It will also give me time to work with Toast on that update the database needs as well" He commented, looking towards Toast who nodded at him in response to his comment, looking pleased at the thought of working with Jack who was a bit of an idol to him.

Steve glanced to the left of him to see Riley step forward, his gaze fixed on Danni before he spoke.

"So Danni when am I going to get my chance to learn from you? Steve was telling me the other week that you can take someone down who is as big as me so I've got to admit I'm intrigued to see your method."

Danni smirked at the comment before she shrugged.

"You'd be better asking Kono to teach you that since she's the one who taught me some dirty hand to hand fighting techniques which it's safe to say they don't teach in the academy." She told him before she frowned and looking over her shoulder towards her office when her cell phone went out. "Excuse me" She commented, twisting and jogging lightly over to her office grabbing the phone.

"That's Danni's ring tone for the Governor so we're probably about to get a new case" Steve told Riley who nodded, his black eyes lighting up at the thought of some action. Steve turned and watched as Danni looked through a pile on her desk, looking through it as she nodded in response to whatever the Governor was saying to her down the phone.

"We've got a case guys" Danni announced as she exited her office "And it's a fast moving one, fast enough that this file which was apparently submitted two evenings ago is already out of date. We have four men who have been murdered, maybe five since another man has been reporting missing after failing to turn up at his job this morning. HPD talked to a few of their friends and it seems that each victim had a date the night before they died but they have several women's number on their. Too many for HPD to deal with so the Governor wants us to take over since we clearly have a serial killer on our hands."

"How are they dying?" Chin asked her.

"Pass, the Medical examiner are understaffed due to that flu bug going round so they are behind at the moment, according to the Governor the first autopsy is due to happen today. It might be an idea for someone to speak to them today and see if they have any initial ideas about how the subject died."

"Where have they been found?" Jack queried, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Three have been found in their homes with the security system active and all the doors and windows locked and the other one was found in a hotel, turns out he was a visitor while the other three were business men who lived on the island. It probably backs up the theory that they were on a date with the person who killed them, it would explain why they allowed them into their houses." Danni answered.

"Are they all on this island" Steve piped up, meeting Danni's eyes when she looked over at her.

"The first four have been but if this fifth missing man is connected then we've moved onto another island. Maybe they are trying to throw us off the scent by spreading us out." She told him with a sigh.

"Do they know who the first murder victim is?" Steve responded, making a sound of frustration when Danni shook her head at him.

"Not until the autopsies have been completed Steve." She said simply, passing him the file. He opened it, quickly scanning it and nodded

"Okay, okay, so we're going to have to split up. Chin, I want you and Kono to head to the address of Brent Dyer, Toast will send you the address and see whether you can find anything there. Riley and I will head over to Guy Lawrence's place and do the same thing there. Jack stay with Danni as discuss, Toast and Jenna find out history on each of our victims focusing on this fifth missing guy. We need to locate him and see whether he is dead or actually just missing."

"You go it boss" Toast said, giving him a thumbs up before he began typing again.

"We'll leave now" Kono commented, nodding at them before she and Chin turned and headed to the door, squabbling good naturedly over which car they would take to head to the house.

"Danni can I have a word with you before we leave in private?" Steve asked her, smiling when she nodded.

"Sure, my office okay? Jack, grab a pen and notepad, you're going to need it." She told the blond with a grin at him before she made a motion with her hand for Steve to follow her before she moved into her office. "What's up?" She asked him as soon as he closed the door behind them. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything fine. I know Louisa is due to come in and eleven for her interview. I want you to text me once you've finished. If you like her and you want to hire her then do so, count this as me giving you my verbal permission to do so. I've already given the Governor the heads up so she knows she may have to sign some paperwork today to make it official." He told her.

"Okay then, you don't need to worry Steve. I know what I'm doing here. You just concentrate on keeping yourself safe out there and watching your six. I don't want to receive a call from Riley or the hospital telling me that you've injured yourself again. Neither Grace or I want you hurt." She told him, concern leaking into her voice.

He smiled at it, not used to the sensation of knowing there was people out there who cared what happened to him. He reached out, brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek tenderly, wishing he could kiss her though he knew she would reject it while they were at work.

"I'll miss you as well Danni, don't get too many papercuts okay?"

"If I do then I'll kick your ass for it before I make you kiss each of them better" She responded, smiling when he winked at her before he turned and headed out of the office. Danni sighed, watching as Steve and Riley met up in the bulpen, sharing a few words with each other before they headed to the door.

"You okay?"

Danni started, realising that Jack was standing in the doorway watching her with a look of concern on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine" She assured her before she moved round the desk and sank into her chair. "Pull up a seat Jack, we've got a lot to do and not much time to do it in" She told him, smiling when he sighed in response.

"I can hardly wait."

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Author Note

 **Thanks for taking the time to read, an especially big thank you if you've taken the time to review, follow or favourite the story. I really appreciate it!**


	6. Chapter 6

Two Weeks

By

Landon Richardson and TealRose

Disclaimer

 **The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Adam 'Toast' Charles, Meka Hanamoa, Amy Hanamoa, Mary McGarrett and anyone else who might sound familiar to the reader do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes**

 **The character of Danni Williams is probably mine by now. Even though she was originally based on male Danny Williams I think it's probably safe to say that's she turned into her own individual character with her own set of beliefs and personality, especially since I've created a back ground for her which is different to male Danny's background in the show. This also affects Grace who is different from the show as well in ways.**

 **The characters of Jack O'Connor, Riley King, Louisa Palakiko-Cowan and Rosie Lange most definitely belong to me though**

 **I should also add that if a character is mentioned who you are not instantly aware of then that character belong to me as well**

Author Note

 **So here's a story which has been co-written with the wonderful Tealrose, so if you haven't checked out her stories yet then you really should!**

 **This story belongs in 'the what if 'story saga. It could be a part of the main saga (The beginning, family ect ect) but isn't. It's more a look at how some things could have happened but didn't so this is a way which Riley King could have joined 50 but it's not the official way he did. We just like experimenting and keeping the muse happy!**

 **Anyway enough from me, please enjoy the chapter.**

Overall summary

 **Two weeks was all it took for everything to go wrong and now it was up to Steve McGarrett to fix things... the only problem was he wasn't sure he could. (Part of the 'What if' Danni saga)**

Chapter Summary

 **Riley sat in the passenger seat of Steve's truck, his gaze fixed on the scenery flashing by though he barely paid any attention to it, his mind instead going over everything which he had been taught so far, not only from his other team members but from the books which he had picked up once he had found out about the change of career he was about to experience.**

Overall romance

 **Steve McGarrett/Danni Williams**

 **Eventual mentions of other romances as we go.**

Chapter Romance

 **Steve McGarrett / Danni Williams**

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Chapter Six

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Riley sat in the passenger seat of Steve's truck, his gaze fixed on the scenery flashing by through the window though he barely paid any attention to it, his mind instead going over everything which he had been taught so far, not only from his other team members but from the books which he had picked up once he had found out about the change of career he was about to experience. It was different from what he had expected, it was more action packed that was for sure and it was suddenly little surprise to him why Steve was so settled and happy where he was. Not only was the work fulfilling and interesting but Riley was willing to bet that his friend had fallen head over heels in love as well. Something he was glad about, if anyone deserved happiness than it was Steve.

"You're thinking so loudly you're giving me a headache" Steve remarked with a smirk, breaking the silence between them as he glanced towards Riley.

"Just thinking about the case, it's my first Homicide. I'm just trying to remember what I need to do. I know I got to wear gloves at all times while I'm there right?" He asked

"Definitely keep the gloves on" Steve agreed, his mind going back to when he first started working cases and how unsure he had been about the procedure though he had kept that quiet from his team. "We have to be careful not to contaminate the scene or do anything which may damage the case. The DA comes down hard on Danni for anything like that and she comes down equally hard on us and trust me when I say you do not want that." Steve told his friend, a grin coming to his face as he remembered the last time Danni had given the team a dressing down about doing things by the book. He pulled up outside of the hotel, glancing down at the text which Toast had sent him. "This is the place where the murder occurred." He stated as he killed the engine and climbed out looking around him at the surrounding area. It seemed busy with plenty of foot traffic. He breathed out, tilting his head back and looking at the elegant building in front of him before he moved into it, heading straight to the reception desk, smiling at the dark haired woman behind it who lit up at the sight of them both.

"Hi, welcome to the Loggins hotel, how can I help you today?" She asked.

"I'm Commander McGarrett and this is Commander King, we're with the 50 taskforce" He told her, flashing his badge at the woman, pleased to see Riley do the same thing next to them. The woman glanced briefly at the badges, bringing her hand up to smooth down her hair as she spoke.

"You must be here about the murder, the Detectives are already on the scene and waiting for you" She told them, her gaze fixed on Steve as she spoke. "I know it's probably an inappropriate thing to ask but I don't suppose you want to get some coffee after this?" She asked him hopefully, her face dropping when he ignored her. Riley grinned to himself, the suspicions he had about Steve's relationship status cementing. He leaned towards the woman and smiled.

"Sorry but he's firmly off the market and I doubt his girlfriend is the sharing type. The crime scene is on the fourth floor right?" He asked her, she nodded, a disappointed look in her eyes.

"That's right, room 415. The elevators are over there, you can take it up there" She replied waving her hand over to them. Riley pressed the call button, waiting until they were inside the empty elevator before he spoke, keeping his voice light as he looked at Steve from the corner of his eyes.

"I didn't realise you were in a serious relationship now"

Steve looked at him with a surprised look.

"Why do you say that?" He demanded. Riley raised an eyebrow.

"Well let me see whether I can put my new found Detective skills to use shall I McG?" He said, lifting his hand and counting off the points on his fingers. "One that receptionist, who for the record was smoking hot, asked you out for coffee and you didn't respond or even notice, second, I've seen the way you look at Danni, I've never seen you look at a woman like that before but I have seen your Uncle look at your Aunt that way and they are both still head over heels in love which indicates to me that you are in love with Danni. You live with her, I mean I know your house was wrecked and you're rebuilding but in all the time I've known you, you have never willingly lived with anyone or stayed with them for longer than one night but according to what Chin said yesterday you've been living with Danni for seven weeks and I doubt that has been on the sofa or in the spare room. You know what she likes and her happiness is clearly important to you, enough that you were willing to make a public apology to her. You, who had never explained any decision he made in the past. You're in love with her, you clearly consider yourself off the market because you're ignoring women flirting with you which indicates you and Danni are in a relationship and if I know you as well as I think I do, you're already looking at engagement rings. How did I do?" He asked with a wide grin at Steve.

Steve stared at him, his mouth slightly open before he closed it his eyes narrowing.

"It looks like we'll make a good Detective out of you yet King" Was all Steve said as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out onto the fourth floor. He glanced around him, pulling out his cell phone and pressed down on the number one button ignoring Riley questioning look. He waited a second before he spoke. "Danni, its Steve. We're just at the hotel and they have CVTV, can you call the judge on duty and see we can get a warrant on them. If he or she signs off on it then get Toast to work his magic on them. I want to know everyone who has been on this floor in the past twenty four hours" He said, falling silent for a moment, a smile coming to his face in response to whatever she said. "Yeah I'll try and pick it up on my way back to the office. Bye babe" He remarked, ending the call before he looked at Riley as the other man spoke thoughtfully.

"This guy may be a kill of opportunity" He commented. "The killer could be staying in this hotel"

"That's definitely a possibility but it will take a lot of time to go through every guest staying here. If we can look at the footage than we can narrow down who had access to this floor." Steve responded. "Why I remember not all the Detectives who work with HPD are fans of 50. They see us as interlopers who are here to take over their cases and taking the glory of closing the case from them so don't be surprise if you may find yourself faced with hostility especially as you are the newest member. They may not like us but they still would give up a limb to be on the team. The ME office and CSU teams ae different. We have a good working relationship with them, mainly due to Danni though each of us have been building on it." He told Riley who nodded at him.

"Got it" Riley said with a nod as they made their way down the corridor towards the room which had uniformed policeman stationed outside of it. He flashed his badge at them, stepping into the room and looking around, glancing towards Steve when the older man held out a pair of gloves to him with a pointed look. He took them and pulled them on, looking around the room which looked neat, nothing was out of place.

"Follow me" Steve said quietly, crossing the room, a smile on his face as he approached a man dressed in a dark grey shirt and a pair of black slacks. He was a good looking man in his mid-thirties if Riley had to guess. Tall at around about six foot with a physique which indicated that he worked out regularly. His hair was black and short while his skin colour indicated that he was of a Chinese heritage though he could easily have been born in Hawaii. Black eyes swung round as Steve spoke. "Meka, are you the lead Detective on this case?" He asked.

"That I am McGarrett" The man responded, holding out his hand to Steve and pulling the other man into a quick hug, one hand slapping Steve's back before he pulled back and looked at Riley, a questioning look on his face "Who's your new friend?" He queried.

"Meka this is Commander Riley King, he's just joined 50; Riley this is Detective Meka Hanamoa with HPD" Steve introduced.

"So this is Riley" Meka said, glancing briefly at Steve before he focused back at Riley, his eyes narrowing slightly as he searched his face before he shrugged, holding out his hand. "Any friends of Steve is a friend of mine. It's good to meet you Riley" He said.

"Likewise" Riley said, clearly this Detective was not one of the Detectives who Steve had warned him about. From what he could tell there seemed to be genuinely respect and friendship between the two men. "How do you know each other? Did you work a case together?" He asked curiously.

"The odd case here and there" Meka responded. "I was Danni's partner in HPD before Steve flew in and stole her for his team. Danni's like a little sister to me so I had to make sure this guy was good enough for her. Turns out he's all right though if you haven't apologised for what you did to her yesterday than Amy has already vowed to kill you at the next BBQ we hold." He said, a serious tone to his voice which told them that Meka would clearly help his wife with the murder.

"I apologised to her in front of the whole team. You can tell your wife that I know I messed up and that I will make it up to Danni" Steve said to him, equally serious. Meka nodded, looking appeased by what Steve had said.

"This case is a nasty one McGarrett" Meka commented, changing the subject, his demeanour changing. "The guys been dead about two days I would guess, he was only discovered because the staff ignored the do not disturb sign on the door."

"Just what we need for a Tuesday" Steve said with a sigh as he shook his head. "The Governor passed the case to us today, with the amount of bodies which are being dropped as well as the fact that another man is missing we could use the help on it if you are up to it?" Steve offered, pleased when Meka grinned at him.

"A chance to work with my Danni-girl again? There's no way I'm giving that chance up, not to mention my partner has been transferred to vice so I'm on my own at the moment and can use all the help I can get". Meka stated with a sigh. "The body is through here in the bedroom." He said, turning and heading over to it. Riley glanced towards Steve for a moment before they followed him towards the room.

"Who is the ME on duty?" Steve called out to Meka.

"Doctor Lange is" Meka replied cheerfully, glancing over his shoulder at them before he stepped into the room. Riley watched curiously when Steve grinned, waving Riley through the door.

"Rosie" Steve remarked. "Good to see you again."

"Hello Steve, I should have known that 50 would appear sooner rather than later. Have you apologised to Danni yet? I'm guessing you have" The woman leaning over the bed commented, not looking up examining the dead body which lay on top of the sheets.

"You as well? Does everyone know what I did Rosie?" Steve demanded, rolling his eyes when she nodded at him.

"I'm guessing the answer to that is yes, it wouldn't surprise me if everyone from the Governor down to the people who fill up the gas for the patrol cars know what you did. News, especially news about the king and queen of 50 travels fast in these parts." Rosie answered with a casual shrug, a hint of amusement tinging her voice "Danni is my best friend, do you really think she wouldn't tell me about what you did?" She asked, looking up, her pale blue-green eyes looking at Steve before they focused on Riley, moving over his face before she spoke. "You must be Detective King?" She asked politely, lifting an eyebrow as she straightened.

Riley blinked at the tall red-headed woman coming towards him.

"Commander King" He corrected her "I haven't got a Detective badge yet. I prefer Riley rather than King though" He told her.

"You can call me Rosie though I'll reserve judgement on you for now." She stated before she suddenly spun round, giving Steve a hard look as she pointed a gloved finger at him. "Danni mentioned you were hiring someone to help her. Whoever it is had better be for her or I'll kick your ass myself McGarrett" she threatened.

"If Danni hires her than Louisa will be strictly for Danni's use unless there's a case which requires everyone to be on deck" Steve told her, holding his hands up as though to placate her.

"Good and she'll be back with you soon right because no offence Riley but seeing Steve without his much better half just seems wrong." Rosie said with a shake of her head. Riley blinked, looking towards Steve.

"Ignore her, Rosie is well known for speaking her mind about absolutely everything. She is extremely good at her job though so Rosamund tell me what we got this time?"

"I can tell you that you'll have an elbow in your kidney if you call me Rosamund again Steven, You've been hanging out with Danni way too much."

"Can't help that." He replied with a grin before his face became seriously. "How are they being killed Rosie. We've got four dead men, one man missing and no leads. Are the cases even linked together?"

"I would say they are. The method of them dying seems to be the same. There's something creepy about it. From what Meka has been telling me the apartments are spotless, nothing out of place or anything. Even the bodies don't have a scratch or bruise on them which would indicate whoever this is, is using drugs to subdue them before killing them. We're waiting on the Tox reports to come back but the labs are swamped at the moment. It seems to be Homicide month this month because we've never been so busy." She said.

"The places are clean" Riley said thoughtfully, looking around the bedroom before he focused on Meka. "Nothing out of place?"

"Yeah, it's strange, each place was like a show home or something." Meka responded with a nod at him.

"That is strange" Riley agreed. "Each victim so far has been a single male living alone. Each of them would have a job, probably working long hours so unless they had a cleaner than there would be no way they would have spotless home, they wouldn't have the time and even if they did they would probably not have the inclination to. I'm thinking that she drugs them, kills them and then cleans up the entire place, washing everything, hoovering; the works. I bet if we look in every cupboard then they would be spotless as well." He said, frowning slightly as he met Rosie's eyes before he turned to look at Steve who was watching him with a thoughtful look clearly running through the theory in his head.

"OCD maybe?" Rosie commented. "So if you walk into one of his old girlfriends homes and it's spotless then you may have your killer" She commented before she turned to her intern, making a movement with her hand to indicate that the body was ready for transport. "I'll do the autopsy as soon as I get back and I'll look at the other three cases to see what I can find to link them" She told them, nodding at the three of them before she headed over to the body to lend a hand.

"What do we do now?" Riley queried. "Carry on looking around the place?" Steve nodded.

"Yeah, but first of all we ring the office and speak to Danni so she can instruct the others about what we're looking for." Steve stated as he pulled out his cell phone and swiped his thumb over the screen, looking over at Riley when he laughed.

"Sure you don't just want to hear the sound of Danni's voice?" He asked quietly so Meka wouldn't overhear them, his eyes twinkling with amusement. Steve snorted.

"You're hardly one to talk, don't think for a moment I didn't catch the way you were looking at Rosie. Looks like I'm not the only one who is smitten" He stated, bringing the phone to his ear and ignoring Riley's sound of denial.

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Author Note

 **Thanks for taking the time to read, an especially big thank you if you've taken the time to review, follow or favourite the story. We really appreciate it!**


	7. Chapter Seven

Two Weeks

By

Landon Richardson and TealRose

Official Disclaimer

 **The characters of Steve McGarrett, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua, Adam 'Toast' Charles, Max Bergman and anyone else within the story who might sound familiar do not belong to me in any shape or form, I am merely using them for my own entertainment purposes.**

 **The character of Danni Williams could probably be considered mine by now. Although the character was originally based on male Danny Williams I think it's probably to say that she is now her own individual character. She has her own story and her own separate background now, a background and story which is different from male Danny's story. This also means that Grace is different as well since not only does she live full time with her mother but also because Danni and Duncan have a fairly civil relationship with each other. Grace's surname is also Taylor in this saga as Williams is Danni's maiden name while Taylor was her married name.**

 **The characters of Special Agent Jack O'Connor, Lieutenant Commander Riley King, Lieutenant Louisa Palakiko-Cowan, Sam Cowan, Jaxon Cowan and Emerson Cowan do belong to me though.**

 **I should also add that if a character is mentioned who you don't recognise from the show then they probably belong to me as well.**

Author Note

 **I should apologise about the delay in getting this chapter out to you. This is due to real life events which gave me the dreaded writer's block. I'm beginning to write more but it's still a slow process so I just ask that you are patient with me. I do plan to write as much as possible and my stories haven't been abandoned. My muse merely needs to start playing ball with me.**

 **This chapter is a chapter which needed to be written so the rest of the plot could be started. You can almost think of it as the calm before the storm hits.**

 **Please note that this story is written with TealRose so if you like NCIS then check her stuff out!**

 **Anyway enough from me.**

 **Please enjoy the story.**

Official Summary

 **Two weeks was all it took for everything to go wrong and now it was up to Steve McGarrett to fix things… the only problem was he wasn't sure e could. (Part of the 'What if' Danni saga, featuring a female Danni)**

Chapter Summary

 **Danni closed the file in front of her with a look of satisfaction, leaning back in her chair, thankful that she had managed to finish another file.**

Official Romances for the story

 **Steve McGarrett / Danielle 'Danni' Richardson (McDanni)**

 **Hints of Riley King / Rosie Lange (Rilsie)**

 **Louisa Palakiko-Cowan / Sam Cowan**

Romances mentioned during the chapter

 **Steve McGarrett / Danielle 'Danni' Richardson (McDanni)**

 **Louisa Palakiko-Cowan / Sam Cowan**

Other note

 **Please keep in mind that I don't have a Beta for this story so the odd mistake may creep in without me meaning it to. I have also never been to Hawaii so all locations are either from the show, google or made up in my own mind.**

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Chapter Seven

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Danni closed the file in front of her with a look of satisfaction, leaning back in her chair, thankful that she had managed to finish another case report.

She was still waiting for the interviewee that Steve had picked for her to show up. Louisa Palakiko-Cowan. The same woman who Steve had been so positive would be perfect not just for the team but for her as well. Louisa had rang her earlier to let her know that she would be late to the interview due to having to take her young son to the Doctors so Danni had decided to cut the other woman a break and had pushed the interview back to the afternoon. If anyone understood issues of childcare than it was her.

Danni leaned forward and opened her upper drawer, reaching in and taking out the file which Steve had put together on Louisa. She dropped it on the surface on the desk and opened it, her eyes flickering down the page taking in all the details. There was no doubt in her mind that on paper Louisa would fit in perfectly with them, if that translated into person then Danni was tempted to hire her on the spot. Anything to help her get back into the field, even if she wasn't Steve's partner for the next two weeks while he trained up Riley, there was no reason why she couldn't go out with another member of the team.

She glanced up when her door opened, a smile coming to her face when Steve walked in.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you back so early, how is the case looking? Have we figured out the link yet?" Danni asked him curiously, watching as he closed the door behind him and moved towards her, perching himself on the side of her desk. She shifted in her seat so she was facing him.

"We're pretty sure the suspect is a woman" Steve told her.

"Well that makes sense, a woman would explain why each man let his guard down especially if they thought that she was on a date with them." Danni agreed, reaching up and pulling at her bottom lip.

"Riley had a good thought while we were out in the field" Steve said, continuing when she shot him a questioning look. "The place we went to today was spotless and according to the reports of the previous scenes which I had Toast look up, the others places were in the same state. Single men, especially single working men in jobs like the jobs these guys were in, wouldn't have the time to clean up their places, especially not to the state these places were."

"So you think that the person who killed them might be suffering from a form of OCD which meant that she had to clean the place up after she was there?" Danni asked, sighing when Steve nodded at her. "That probably means that there won't be any physical evidence that we can use, the cleaning product would have degraded it."

"There's that" Steve agreed "But it does mean as well that if we interview a suspect and her home is spotless then we may have our serial killer"

"That is extremely true" Danni stated, twirling her pen between her fingers.

"I do have my moments" He said, glancing around him before he focused back on her. "How did the interview go with Louisa? Did you like her and hire her?" Steve questioned.

"I haven't interviewed her yet Steve, she rang in earlier telling me that she had to take her son to the Doctor so we pushed it back until…" Her voice trailed off briefly as she glanced down at her watch. "Now, she should hopefully be here any moment. I read the file you gave me" She went on to say, patting her hand against it. "It says that she was a Lieutenant in the Naval Intelligence Unit who were based at Pearl harbour. I'm guessing that you worked with her before which is why you're keen on me hiring her?"

"I've worked with her once or twice and I can tell you that she's good at her job. She'll fit in well here and she's what you need." Steve told her. Danni searched his eyes for a moment before she nodded, dropping the pen on the file.

"I'll take that into consideration" She told him, leaning her head back against the top of the chair. "So how did Riley do out in the field in his first real case. The kidnapping wasn't exactly a normal case after all." Steve smiled to himself, glancing around him again before he leaned down and kissed her, his hand coming up and framing her face, his thumb stroking along her cheekbone. He reluctantly leaned back from her, staring down into her flushed face. "What was that for?" She asked.

"It was because I missed you today out in the field. I know you hate being in here but it won't be for much longer." He answered her before he sighed. "As to your question about Riley, he'll be fine out there though this case will be like a baptism of fire for him. Meka was the lead in it and it was frustrating him as well so he was glad to get our help though I think we both know that he would rather be working with you. I don't think Meka's ever forgiven me for taking you from him and making you my partner instead of his."

"He likes you now though so that's something" Danni pointed out laughing when Steve sighed at the comment.

"It only took a year or so for him to call me McGarrett rather than Commander or my personal favourite when he calls me boy." Steve stated.

"Well, that's all in the past now" Danni pointed out before she changed the subject. "You're in time for the interview though so if you want stay and participate in it than feel free to." Steve opened his mouth to respond when Danni's phone rang. She held up her hand at him for a moment before she picked up the handset and spoke into it. "Detective Williams" falling silent for a moment before she spoke again. "Yeah I am expecting her, I'll send someone down to sign for her. Thanks Patrick" She hung the phone up and came to her feet, brushing her hand across the back of Steve's shoulders before she pulled the door open and looked around her, her eyes landing on Jenna who was working at something behind her desk. "Jenna I need you to head downstairs and sign someone in for me"

"Okay on it boss" Jenna responded as she glanced up, coming to her feet.

Danni watched her head towards the door before she turned and looked back at Steve.

"She's here" She stated with a smile at him.

"I gathered as much" Steve responded, sounding amused for a moment, his eyes soft as he stared at her.

"Let's hope she's as good as you believe her to be" Danni said moving towards him again and giving him another soft kiss. "Just remember that I'm the lead in this interview, you just sit there and try not to be intimidating. Don't think for a second that I don't know your reputation while you were in the Navy because I do Commander hard-ass" She told him serious.

"Commander hard-ass" Steve repeated, raising an eyebrow as he slipped his arms round her waist. "Care to tell me who told you that nickname or are you just calling me that because Toast likes calling me it when he thinks I'm going into a SEAL mode."

"A good Detective never gives away her sources McGarrett, you should know that" She responded, taking a step back from him and turning as they heard the sound of feminine voices approaching, one belonging to Jenna and the second belonging to another which Danni didn't recognise.

"I did wonder whether Jenna would know her, we had some missions with CIA analysts, Jenna could have easily have been one of them" Steve remarked as he came to his feet and sat down in the seat next to Danni's chair.

Danni watched as a slim, long legged woman approached her office with an air of confidence to her. She was smartly dressed in a navy blue pantsuit with a red shirt underneath.

"Hey boss, Lou is here for her interview, if I had known that Lou was the one who Steve had suggested then I would have put in a good word for her as well, Lou always does an excellent job, I'll catch you later, maybe we could have coffee together afterwards" Jenna said, smiling at them all before she disappeared back into the bulpen.

"Hi, you must be Louisa, I'm Danielle and this is…"

"Steve McGarrett" Louisa answered, glancing towards him before she looked back at Steve. "It's a pleasure to meet you Danielle and it's good to meet you as well Smooth Dog, it's always good to finally be able to put a name to the face"

"Does everyone know that nickname?" Steve demanded even as he held out his hand to Louisa, shaking her hand before he looked towards Danni who laughed.

"It appears so" Danni said, opening her mouth to speak though Steve beat her to it.

"Louisa, Danielle is the one who you'll be working with the most and who will be your main boss"

"That's fine with me" Louisa said with a nod before she turned her full attention to Danni who smiled at her.

"Shall we sit down" She suggested, waving her hand towards the chair on the opposite side of her desk before she moved around and took her own. "So tell me about yourself than Louisa. Your records state that you've only recently moved to Hawaii in the past year or so, what brought you back?" Danni questioned her.

"I was born in Hawaii and I always promised myself that when I was ready to start a family that I would move back to the islands to do it. I was slightly late moving back as my eldest was two before we moved but at least my youngest was born here" Louisa told her, her dark eyes flickering between the two of them.

"That makes sense." Danni remarked. "So you have two children then?"

"Yep Jaxon is the eldest, he's three and my youngest is called Emerson, she's ten months at the moment so still a baby. It's one of the reasons why I want a change in my job, I have two small children who need me, I can't take risks anymore." Louisa told her.

"I can understand a reason like that. What sort of things did you do in the Navy that would help us here at 50? What skills do you have?" Danni asked watching as the woman glanced between her and Steve, she risked a glance towards her partner, her mouth curling into a half smile when she noticed the blank look on Steve's face. The same one which was unreadable.

"I think I'll be a good fit with your team because I'm good with details and picking out patterns when it comes to coding, something which would be helpful with your cases. I'm fully trained in hand to hand combat and gun training with a speciality in sniper training. It's always good to have someone left behind who can fight if the need flares up. Even the best security can be breached after all and I know that Jenna is not gun trained and I don't think it looks like the tall guy out there is either. You do looked trained but I'm guessing that you're the heart of this team and if I can tell that then any one could. Someone could easily take one of those two hostage before you left your office and then they'll have you." Louisa said.

"But you could neutralise the target?" Steve remarked.

"I could" Louisa said confidently, glancing towards him for a second before she focused back on Danni who kept quiet. "As for the paperwork side of things, well I'm your woman to get it done. They didn't nickname me Athena the Goddess of Wisdom for nothing. Everyone and I mean everyone came to me in our unit to get things done or to get trained on the way they do things. It may sound like I'm bragging but it's the truth, I did my job and I did it well."

Danni smiled slightly at this but Steve laughed and nodded.

"I can vouch for that Danni, I heard about this one time when a General came to Louisa thinking he could get her to do some paperwork without following the proper procedures, according to scuttle bug you told him to go to hell, at least that's the one"

"Okay that one was actually true" Louisa commented with a shrug. "But the guy deserved it, doing things off of the books is nothing but trouble in my opinion. Look Danielle, if you're unsure or you don't want to make a decision now than I can understand that. Give me a month's probation and I'll prove to you that not only can I do this job but that you can rely on me. My husband is in the DA's office here so I am well up to date on the current laws which means that I know what to do to make sure our convictions aren't thrown out of the courts because of a technicality." She told Danni.

Danni searched her eyes quietly for a moment before she turned to Steve and raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

"Hey you know my decision already so it's up to you Danni, are we hiring or giving probation?" Steve asked.

Danni nodded, glancing back towards Louisa and smiled.

"You're definitely hired, I've already been through your references and they all said the same thing. That you were a hard worker and they were gutted to lose you. Congratulations Louisa, welcome to the team. When can you start?" Danni asked.

"Now? Tomorrow? I'm pretty flexible. I do have to leave work between 4 and 5 though to pick my children up from my mum's house." Louisa told them with a smile.

"That's fine Louisa, I have a daughter myself as does Jack who you'll meet later so we're flexible when it comes to family. While I remember, please call me Danni. It's what everyone here calls me." Danielle stated before looking past Louisa when there was a knock at her door revealing Riley who glanced between them all.

"Danni can we speak?" He asked.

Danni nodded, turning to Steve,

"Steve could you take Louisa to Toast to get her paperwork sorted out?" She asked her partner who nodded, ushering the tall woman out of the office, his gaze flickering between Riley and Danni. Danni waited until the door had closed behind them before she spoke. "What can I do for you?" She asked

"I think we may have some things to talk about" Riley said seriously. Danni searched his eyes for a moment before she nodded.

"Yeah, I think we do."

* * *

Author Note

 **Thanks for taking the time to read. An especially big thank you if you have left me a review, favourite the story or decided to follow it.**

 **I really appreciate it**


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